Rumsfeld Invaders

Spreading Rumors About Palin

2009-07-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

What follows is pure speculation, so don't quote me on this. There are no unnamed sources for this article, Judith Miller did not talk to Scooter Libby, Curveball did not tell me this after being waterboarded, Rove did not out any CIA agents here, and David Letterman and his writers did not tell jokes about this. So without further ado, here is my random list of potential scandals that caused Palin to resign for no apparent reason:

She had an affair with: a. one of her staffers, b. McCain, c. Joe the Plumber, d. Eminem, as shown in his recent music video, e. all of the above

She had a threesome with John Ensign and Mark Sanford

She visited a $15,000 prostitute while in D.C.

His name was Newt Gingrich

She got pregnant

She got pregnant by Levi

She got an abortion (during the 2008 campaign)

She put Willow on birth control and feels bad about it and wants to spend more time at church asking for forgiveness

She is actually gay

There is something in Levi's forthcoming book that she is worried about

She got a job with Fox News

She got a job with Saturday Night Live

She will be on a reality TV show (MTV's The Real World?)

She got a job as a spokesperson for a turkey-killing factory

She is planning to pose for Playboy's Girls of the Radical Right Wing

She is planning to pose for Playboy's Anti-Choice Grandmas of the GOP (I'll probably skip that issue)

A girls gone wild video of her from 1983 has surfaced and she wanted to resign so she could make a deal to get a portion of the proceeds (Paris Hilton style)

She sold meth to Levi's mom

She bought meth from Levi's mom

She did meth with Levi's mom

Palin's car wash had "not filed its biennial report and/or paid its biennial fees"

She wants to go back to working at her car wash

Boring old using state troopers for personal family stuff, like changing diapers or babysitting for her

Boring old firing state troopers who got divorced from her sister, etc.

Boring old trying to get paid state funds for sleeping at home or taking family with her on trips

Boring old embezzlement of public funds (maybe while she was mayor of Wasilla regarding a Sports Center and contractors doing free work on her house)

More scandals here

(Note: this blog is covered by the 1st amendment (it's in the Constitution, Sarah, look it up), so no moaning or whining about defamation. If you want to sue someone, sue McCain. If he hadn't picked you, I wouldn't have known who you are.)

The Highlight of the House's Energy Bill Debate

2009-06-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

I watched the debate last Friday on CSpan. It was disheartening to hear the disingenous Repub arguments, they have already decided to vote no, now time to backfill for reasons why. Um, hoaxy? Al Gore-rrible? Economy? (sorry guys, all of those are weak!)

Among Dems, the highlight of the debate was Rep. John Larson (CT? I'm pretty sure, although after awhile the talking heads seem to blur together, sorry if it wasn't him) who gave a great speech about how we are sending so much money for oil to Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Venezuela, that the Repubs should be ashamed of voting against this because they are supporting our enemies and contributing to terrorism (or something like that). It was a way stronger argument than some of the flimsy green jobs stuff which sounds a little like “just wait another 10 years and we’ll have a hydrogen car, we promise.”

Some Music and Videos of Hope

2009-06-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

A tribute to Michael Jackson, and hoping that we can solve the problems of the world.

"We are the World" - An anthem of hope, great 80's cameos.

"Man in the Mirror" - A good song to listen to if you are thinking of becoming vegetarian.

"Smooth Criminal" - looks like he was protesting the WTO and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle police started getting violent.

"You are not Alone" - I like the Olive song by that name too.

"Heal the World" - sort of cheesy, but a good kids song, nice anti-war sentiment.

"Earth Song" - really good, put that pollution back into the smokestack.

"Feed the World" - this isn't Michael Jackson, but I think his work helped inspire it, plus I was on a roll, and more 80's cameos.

Gaia's Future Debated in the House

2009-06-26T07:36:00.000-07:00

It's a day that Bill McKibben, Carl Pope, Stephen Schneider, James Lovelock and Gaia itself have been waiting for. HR.2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), the House's first serious attempt to address climate change, is on the House floor. Climate change is a serious challenge. We need to reduce our GHG emissions, and the consequences of not doing so are serious, perhaps threatening the continued existence of half of all species, perhaps eventually including our own.

Do any of these Congresspeople know what they are talking about? Very few have read the bill. It's over 1200 pages. How many Congresspeople understand cap and trade, at all? Or think they understand it, but really don't.

Especially the Republicans. I assume many of them understand that climate change is a problem, or at least are concerned about dependence on imported oil from the Middle East and elsewhere. But they have prioritized short-term power politics over the survival of God's creation, the Earth. The economic scare tactics, skepticism of science, callers on CSpan saying that global warming is a hoax. Mainly it seems they hate Al Gore, and this gives them a reason to announce it to people loudly. Interestingly, Al Gore is not even that liberal, but he stirs up memories of the 90's, which I guess for Repubs was a painful time, it was like Middle School and he was like the Assistant Principal, I guess. Even so, the Repugs are trying to fit what they can into their existing worldview, for example, saying that if there is a problem, it's because of those dark skinned people in the Amazon cutting those trees. If they could say global warming was caused by welfare mothers they would.

Blue Dog Democrats are scared of making any bold moves. Status quo coal and manufacturing control them.

I've been arguing that action on global warming is needed. And I've been pestering everyone around me about it for years going on decades now. But is this bill the right one? We are running out of time. Every year of delay is potentially fatal. Even so, the bill has been compromised. A well-respected analyst told me yesterday that at this point, the bill's main impact will be to pay money to corn farmers to make ethanol, with little or no emissions reductions. On the other hand, showing up to the international climate conference in Copenhagen in December with nothing from the U.S. would just prolong the Bush-era stalemate. China and India are right to say that the U.S. should go first. If those Repugnicans think our economic problems are bad, why don't they go there and tell them to reduce their emissions.

There is the head versus heart debate, or what I call the Christina Aguilera debate (my body's sayin let's go, but my heart is sayin no). For normal people, it's that we know the bill is flawed, but we hope that it will help in some way. I'm not sure which is the heart and which is the head, or in Christina's case, which is the T and which is the A (not as much in the head, sorry, uncalled for). For Repugs, it's that they want to oppose Obama's agenda and if they can personally insult Al Gore while doing so this gives them great pleasure, and if they can fit in some populist rhetoric about jobs (when they actually are the unions worst enemy the other 364 days of the year, and their free trade agenda has cost more jobs than this bill ever could) and the economy (which mainly consists of bank bailouts and ponzi schemes at this point right?), and on the other hand, the concessions in this bill might actually benefit their constituencies (industrial ag, Monsanto, the delay in switching off coal, keeping gas prices high which they say they oppose but they enjoy the campaign contributions from Exxon) but they are so blinded by Gore-hatred they refuse to recognize that, and cap and trade was originally a free market solutions that was an alternative to command and control regulation but if they aren't in front of the parade them they won't go I guess, and they often have grandchildren and like going outdoors, and there may be a small voice in the back of their mind that knows that they would feel bad if they were responsible for ending civilization. But that is a distant echo, which can be easily drowned out with Venezuelan hookers, whiskey, Fox News, and Rush Limbaugh.

350 ppm trumps politics. (many enviros think the tipping point for climate collapse will be 350 parts per million CO2 equivalent in the atmposphere, the IPCC sometimes refers to 450 ppm as a goal for 2050 or 2100, this blog has a graphic that shows our current ppm). But there's no silver bullet single solution to climate change, so we should support anything that reduces coal use. It's not clear if ACES will, but it might be a step towards it (squinting, wishing). Maybe strategic opposition can improve the bill, providing a story for the media to cover ("enviros say bill is too weak, allocations should go to consumers not utilities").

If ACES passes, which I think would be a victory for recognition of climate change as a problem, there will still be lots of work to be done, so don't hang up your hat and call it a day yet. Sorry, you can't take the rest of the day off.

6 versions of Terminator:Salvation that would have been an improvement

2009-06-12T14:06:00.000-07:00

Here they are, in descending order from serious to just funny.

1) Terminator: What should have been

John Connor leads a small band of people just trying to survive. He comes across young Kyle Reese and acts as a father figure to him. They learn that Skynet is harvesting human tissue to make human-looking cyborgs to infiltrate the resistance. Their upcoming model is based on an Austrian weightlifter whose genome had been sequenced by CyberDyne. John captures and reprograms an experimental Terminator (Marcus). Skynet finds the resistance headquarters and captures everyone. Marcus pretends he is still a machine, but once back at Skynet headquarters, hacks into Skynet, locates John and Kyle, and is able to fight the other Terminators so that John and Kyle escape. Marcus’s last act before he dies is to upload a computer virus into Skynet that John Connor had created. It shuts down parts of Skynet, and the resistance takes over certain factories. As people hear about this, they come out of the woodwork, and this builds up the resistance from a few people to several thousand. Towards the end of the movie they find out that Skynet has repaired itself and is preparing a counterattack. Connor keeps trying to capture Terminators in order to reprogram them and find out how Skynet’s software works. Towards the end of the movie, something strange happens that implies that Skynet is working on time travel technology.
The soundtrack: Nine Inch Nails Year Zero, and The Day the Whole World Went Away

2) Terminator: Hackers

John Connor learned at the end of T3 that Skynet is software, and has infected the computers of the world. Therefore, logically, this next movie is about him trying to find out if any computer programmers survived Judgment Day so that they can try to hack into Skynet and turn it off. It becomes more of an intellectual thriller, as John Connor tries to figure out the structure of Skynet, and how he can communicate with hackers around the world without alerting Skynet to their plans. They may have to build a second Internet, use old WWI analog coding devices, or carrier pigeons.

Terminator: After the Bomb

John Connor has come up with some ingenious ways for the resistance to survive under Skynet’s radar. The movie revolves around how they had to rebuild from scratch all the things we take for granted. They had to develop anti-radiation pills or medications, they built a Biodiesel refinery so they would not be reliant on oil, which is controlled by the machines. Kate manages an organic greenhouse underground to grow food. We also find out which animals and plants survived Judgment Day, and which species began to mutate or evolve in the new ecology. Joseph Masco could work as a behind-the-scenes consultant for the film.

Terminator: The Basics

Like a video game, the camera follows John Connor around as he is attacked by robots in creative ways. That’s it.

Terminator: Salivation

The resistance has been living in bomb shelters like the one shown at the end of T3 for over 10 years eating canned beans. Finally, John Connor leads an expedition outside to see if anything edible survived the nuclear winter. Meanwhile, Kate attempts to start an organic community garden, using permaculture principles. It turns out that Kyle Reese really likes fresh fava beans.

Terminator: Under a Hot Moon

Moon Bloodgood strips to 80’s synthesizer techno from Term 1, GnR, Year Zero, Kraftwerk, and other robot related music. Perhaps the most successful of the proposed alternatives.

By the way, I've been enjoying reading the comments on this other blog.

Shih Tzus Against Hummers?

2009-06-07T21:12:00.001-07:00

Now that Hummer is being sold to a Chinese company, maybe Chihuahuas Against Hummers should form a Chinese affiliate. Perhaps Shih Tzus Against Hummers?

Issues with Terminator Salvation

2009-05-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

I liked the previous Terminator movies so much that I dressed as one for Halloween, and I have one as my avatar photo. But this might change, because I don't really want to be associated with the current one, Terminator Salvation.

So disappointing, because I had high hopes, with the Nine Inch Nails song "When the Whole World Went Away" in the trailer, and Batman swaggering around casually shooting Terminators for fun. There were a few good scenes, but the director and writers missed the big bullet points, and took the lazy cut and paste route to 90 minutes, done, let's go have a margarita. But dude, you got to please the fans or else you won't get hired back.

Here are some of my issues with the movie. If you're planning to see it, you might want to stop reading here.

Marcus and Moon should have been taken completely out of the movie. Why did Moon disobey orders and release Marcus? Oops, now I got shot, wasn't expecting that. You liked this guy who acts like a robot so much that you risk your life and piss off all your friends? Every scene she was in I cringed. Especially the take off the fighter pilot helmet and shake your hair and give the flirtacious smile. Hello, this isn't a shampoo commercial, it's the Terminator. Enough with the tight pants and the Trinity kicks. We've already seen it, in a movie where it was new.

All we really want is to see Christian Bale kill robots, and he did a few times, but all this jibber jabber with Marcus was so pointless. And the face of Skynet is not Helena Bonham Carter. Skynet would not try to convince Marcus of anything. It is a machine, it works by command and control. It would tell Marcus what to do and if he resisted, he would be terminated and another one would be created to replace him. And if you're going to be like a mile away from a nuclear explosion, I want to see you take anti-radiation pills in the next scene, or else I want to see your hair falling out and you die. I can't suspend that much disbelief.

And the Terminator series is not the Matrix. No Architect, no existential questions. You are a machine, with a single mission, and John Connor's is to save Kyle Reese, which is a good counterpoint to the 1st movie. This surety of purpose is what we admire about the Terminator. The Terminator is not a waffling Keanu, trying to figure things out. Too bad the writers lost track amid the CGI, which is not a substitute for plot.

Also, enough with the cut and paste characters. The mute kid with the fro from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and I think in that Kevin Costner movie too, lame. The set, costumes, and gas station with the rasta dude and the old woman who hate each other, wasn't that from Resident Evil Extinction? The character from South Park: Token (you know what I mean). And rehashing the Guns and Roses song, and the random Alice in Chains Rooster song? Did you profile your fans and that came up #1? True, I own the album, but let's be creative here. I'm not saying Enya, but where was the Nine Inch Nails song from the trailer? Any songs off of Year Zero would have been a way better choice. And the PG-13 rating, this is just to sell video games. But long time fans want a better script. So sad.

The radio thing...wouldn't Skynet pick up that transmission too? If not, why not? Where does the gasoline come from? Do they have biodiesel refineries? Underground greenhouses to grow food? No? Just coyote that must be totally radioactive, assuming they were able to survive the nuclear winter. If you're going to attack San Francisco, why not come up El Camino Real like Junipero Serra? Why cross the rickety, destroyed Golden Gate? Is the resistance based up in Marin, in a hottub in Mill Valley? And Batman, just give him the ears and the cape already, and make him fight IceMan, played by CGI Arnold.

Speaking of which, c'mon, give Arnold more of an intro than just "duh duh duh duh." Like, uh oh, here comes Arnold, or something. Then trying all the same stuff from the previous movies to melt him and freeze him, so boring. And the factory where the machines are made, just like the Matrix. Seen it already. Also already seen where the Borg were made, and where the Aliens were born. Yawn.

The worst was that we already knew that Skynet is software, not hardware. So why try to blow up one factory? So lame. Use a computer virus or some kind of software solution. John Connor should have a team of hackers trying to take down Skynet's firewall. Too creative? Too "outside the box"?

I like the Earth

2009-04-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

The emotional manipulation worked. Here I am promoting this on my own blog, for free. But I just like polar bears, humpback whales, and elephants. Sorry.

Stop eating meat, 'cuz I want y'all ta live

2009-03-24T11:52:00.000-07:00

At the end of his song "Colors," rapper Ice-T made a plea to Stop the Violence where he said, "please stop, cuz I want y'all ta live." Here's my own plea, for y'all ta stop dyin' from eatin' all that meat, excerpted from this story: Eating Too Much Red Meat May Shorten Life

Diets high in red meat and in processed meat shorten life span not just from cancer and heart disease but from Alzheimer's, stomach ulcers and an array of other conditions as well, a U.S. National Cancer Institute study has found.

U.S. National Cancer Institute researchers reported that a quarter-pound hamburger or a small pork chop eaten daily could put you at increased risk for a variety of cancers.

[guess what?]...the American Meat Institute objected to the conclusion...[but the sobering facts say...]

Dying from cancer also was more likely among those eating the most red meat: 22 percent higher for men, 20 percent for women. The risk for death from cancer increased 12 percent for men and 11 percent for women who ate the greatest amount of processed meat.

Similarly, the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease was higher by 27 percent for men and 50 percent for women; for processed red meat, the risk was 9 percent higher for men and 38 percent higher for women.
- - - - -

In Time Magazine, a nutrition epidemiologist who directs the interdisciplinary obesity program at the University of North Carolina said cutting back from a Big Mac every other day — (7.5 ounces of red meat, the highest quintile of meat consumption in the study, or, in other words, the typical American diet) — to one Big Mac a week would yield "dramatic health benefits."

I'll go even further and say, go vegetarian, buy organic, ban foie gras, and stop killing animals. Too radical? Well, also, stop pestering your vegetarian friends and family about how they are not getting enough protein, or about how their habits are messing up your traditional Palin-style Thanksgiving death-fest. They will give you a nice eulogy at your funeral, with "Colors" by Ice-T playing in the background.

Take Over GM and Make Better Cars

2009-03-05T16:51:00.000-08:00

Suddenly these Detroit auto CEOs are eco-friendly, and sweet-talking in DC. But where were you ten years ago? What about your famous Hummer brand? Sure, now that you want free money, you'll promise this and that, but as soon as you're back on your feet, it'll be, "Oh, well, the market's not quite there yet, and oh, it's so expensive, but we're making 50 test models, and oh, we're doing all that we can by investing in R&D, and oh, we have plans to release a hydrogen car in 2025." I've heard it all before.

A few months ago I said let's bail out the auto companies and include contracts saying that they'll green their fleet etc. Now I'm thinking the government should actually take over the companies, fire all the people who sued to stop California's Clean Car Regulations (I mean go through their email archive, and every single person who said yes let's sue - fired!), hire some people from Silicon Valley EV start-ups, and let them run the companies. Oh, and the new contracts will all say they they won't sue to stop new climate regulations, they won't fund climate denial groups, they will support gas taxes and fuel surcharges, and they will green their fleet, or else the company reverts back to the government, and they go to jail.

Sounds fair.

Nationalizing the Banks and Greening the Monetary System

2009-02-22T09:45:00.000-08:00

Could nationalizing the banks help fix two major problems with the monetary system? Economists and conservatives, recently including Alan Greenspan, are starting to talk about the need to nationalize U.S. banks in order to stabilize the financial system. At the least, it would prevent the banks from using bailout money for junkets. At best, it could provide an opportunity to fix some fundamental flaws in our monetary system.

The two most basic problems with our monetary system are that 1) money is backed by debt, and 2) compounded interest ensures that a certain percentage of people will go bankrupt. Rather than explain all of that here, I refer you to Richard Douthwaite’s Ecology of Money and an essay here.

When dollars are only backed by debt (money is loaned into existence), banks must keep lending in order to keep the money supply stable. Otherwise, when loans are paid back, or when companies are unable to pay back loans and go bankrupt, the money ceases to exist, it just disappears, which is the actual cause of a recession. In order to prevent this house of cards from collapsing, banks must always be creating new loans. But when the debt stops flowing, the money supply starts to contract, which is what happened after banks realized that the credit default swaps based on subprime loans were overvalued.

Money could be based on something real instead of just based on debt. The gold standard had its own problems. Douthwaite proposes an energy-backed-currency-unit (ebcu) that would help the world address climate change. The ebcu’s value would be backed by the limited number of emissions permits allowed under a global emission cap. In the future, greenhouse gas emissions might be more valuable than gold, and because they will get scarcer over time, they will become more valuable. The ebcu would reign in the inflationary fiat paper money system.

The debt basis of our money puts pressure on banks to keep making loans, but the positive interest rate makes those loans more and more expensive. Loans must be repaid with interest, but all money is loaned money, so where does the money to pay back the interest come from? The zero-sum answer: some people must go bankrupt to allow for others to repay their loans. A great source for more information on the interest rate is Margrit Kennedy’s book Interest and Inflation Free Money. Kennedy's book also points out how the growth rate of compound interest is totally unsustainable. One penny invested over time will eventually be worth more than the whole planet. The weird way that the interest rate affects economists estimates of future costs has profoundly affected the debate over the costs of averting climate change, resulting in some economists immorally arguing that it is too expensive to do anything, and it is more economically efficient to sit and fry. One of the few economists questioning this logic was the UK's Sir Nicholas Stern (google: Stern Review, discounting, interest rate, climate change). The interest rate also causes prices to become distorted, and makes capital projects look unaffordable. This is too bad because we need lots of capital projects to transform our energy and transportation infrastructure into low-carbon non-fossil-fuel systems. A steady-state economy will be impossible within the constraints of a debt-backed, positive-interest monetary system. One possible solution is to alter the monetary system to adopt an altered form of the interest rate more like the Swedish JAK Bank model.

So, in summary, the current banking crisis could provide the opportunity to improve our monetary system to fix two major flaws. A new currency that is not tied to debt could be backed by greenhouse gas emissions permits. And banks would be able to loan money without charging compounded interest that forces people into bankruptcy.

Of course, much of the public will not ever learn about the problems of the monetary system because the media will only publish stories that reinforce pre-existing ideologies by focusing on who to blame for the recession: either the private sector (greedy bankers and Bernie Madoff), or the public sector (government-backed loan programs and poor oversight from Christopher Cox's SEC). The Wall Street Journal and Fox News will conveniently forget about how Dubya wanted to privatize Social Security just a few years ago. I already saw one backlash blog posting calling to privatize Congress rather than nationalize the banks. But whether to privatize or nationalize is not the issue. Just like in the first few chapters of Peter Barnes' book Capitalism 3.0, the solution to the problem will not come from either government or corporations, it will come from changing the system. Hopefully, some commentators will recognize the role of debt-backed currency and compound interest play in the current economic downturn, and maybe there will be articles in the media about the monetary system. Booms and busts are not part of the regular business cycle; they are part of the debt/interest monetary system. If the banks need to be taken over by the government until things are sorted out, it may provide a good and rare opportunity to fix these two problems.

Maybe this teachable moment will help create a monetary reform movement in this country. The movement could be based on Richard Douthwaite's The Ecology of Money, and help us create a new monetary system that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and green our economy.

George W. Who?

2009-01-20T10:49:00.000-08:00

As soon as President Obama was inaugurated, I suddenly forgot who that other guy was. I remember the Clinton years, when I had fun protesting the WTO. I remember Jimmy Carter, and I even remember during Reagan years watching some good movies and rollerskating to Duran Duran, Wham, Prince, and Taylor Dayne. But sometime after 2000 there's kind of a vague recollection of something distasteful, I'm not sure what. I remember playing some video games and hosting some fundraisers, and then the Obama years, ah, much better, I think I'll remember those.

I remember Slobodan Milosevich, and the guy who grew a big beard and hid for awhile but eventually was found and tried at the Hague for War Crimes. And I remember seeing this guy in a wheelchair at Obama's Inauguration, he looked like Mr. Potterfrom It's a Wonderful Life. Maybe this guy, along with the guy in that video game, will end up in a war crimes tribunal too. Until then, who? Sorry, busy rebuilding America.

Countdown to Copenhagen

2008-12-22T22:01:00.000-08:00

I got this countdown clock at the UNFCCC website. The successor to the Kyoto Protocol will be negotiated in Copenhagen next year, and will probably set the rules until 2020 or so. If the rules are wrong, then we'll have another wasted decade of not dealing with climate change, digging ourselves in deeper, and possibly dooming much of the planet. (hey, are there any good reality shows on TV?)

Cap'n Dividend

2008-12-05T11:36:00.001-08:00

Introducing Captain Dividend! A new superhero to rescue civilization from an evil economy that emits too many greenhouse gases (dramatic music in the background). Instead of "stronger than a locomotive," this guy utilizes an upstream cap, 100% auctioning of permits, and cash dividends returned to consumers on a per capita basis. (see the women swooning as he describes carbon market design) Nice biceps and pecs. (Remind you of a certain governor, but without the accent?)

Note: I had to use Mozilla Firefox and download a Flash Player plug in for the animation to work.

Monetary Reform to address the Financial Crisis

2008-10-27T17:49:00.000-07:00

Here are my recommendations to the President and Treasury Secretary for how to handle the financial crisis:

1. Government should bailout the people, not the corporations. Why give more money to Wall Street, when average people are struggling to pay their mortgages? Investment in green infrastructure jobs will build the economy. Stimulus checks unattached to anything are inflationary, but other types of payments should be implemented, including the Sky Trust, which would reward people for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

2. If government acts as the short-term investor of last resort, it must demand several things in return: a) stock that will be owned by the American taxpayers, held in trust, and that will pay dividends to all Americans equally on a per capita basis, similar to ESOPs and the ideas listed by Jeff Gates in his book "The Ownership Solution," b) enforceable pledges and action plans from companies to alter their business practices towards sustainability for the next 30-50 years, and their bailouts would be contingent on the companies' progress towards sustainability goals, especially for high-GHG-emitting companies like General Motors, c) demand that companies receiving bailouts reduce their ridiculous executive compensation back to normal levels and implement a common sense ratio between the lowest paid employee and the highest as advocated by Ben Cohen, d) oversight and prosection to limit the obvious corruption that follows any disbursement of hundreds of billions of dollars, e) when necessary, fire the executives who caused the problems and install new, more trustworthy leadership.

3. Convene a monetary reform group that would offer recommendations to change the following unsustainable parts of the monetary system: a) fractional reserve banking, b) debt as the only backing for our fiat currency, c) the positive compound interest rate that impoverishes people and causes poor people to pay rich people in order to rent the currency that should actually be a public utility.

4. Implement monetary reform with some of the following characteristics: a) create a local currency that circulates only at the regional level, supporting locally owned businesses and services, b) allow states to issue currency instead of just bonds that must be repaid with interest, c) alter the national currency so that it can be issued as a public service backed by something besides debt and without the positive compounding interest rate - some possibilities are the JAK banking model, d) initiate the creation of an energy-backed currency unit for foreign exchange transactions, based on the EBCU energy backed currency unit advocated by FEASTA.

Rumsfeld Invaders moves to MCSandlerbrau.com

2008-10-21T11:20:00.000-07:00

The Rumsfeld Invaders website, featuring a fun video game based on the Atari 2600's famous Space Invaders, has moved a new home at MCSandlerbrau.com. The website move was prompted by the fact that Rumsfeld's accomplices, Residents Bush and Cheney, will be leaving the White House soon. Though Rumsfeld Invaders was conceived during a dark time in our nation's history, the move to MCSandlerbrau.com represents an audacious hope that our country has reached a turning point. With such change (if we can believe in it, and I truly hope that yes, we can), this website will undergo a parallel transformation into a new era of activism, humor, and creativity.

It's been a tough 7 years, as shown by the 57,000 people who have played the Rumsfeld Invaders game to relieve their frustration at all the lies, wars, and swagger. Let's hope, audaciously, for the next 7 years of truth, peace, and humility. Let's hope for 7 (or even 70) years of clean water, sustainability, renewable energy, fuel efficiency, climate protection, social justice, green jobs, healthy lives, quality education, financial and monetary reform, and real homeland security.

Click here to play Rumsfeld Invaders.

Bail-Outs, or Susta-Ins?

2008-09-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

"Bailout" has two meanings: help and escape. Although the government claims it is trying to help the financial industry escape its debt burden, there is much more going on. As our Rumsfeld Invaders blog has been saying for years now, part of the reason for the Iraq War is to run high federal budget deficits in order to de-fund and prevent government social spending far into the future. The military budget, along with Homeland Security, and now these "bail outs" run up the deficit, which devalues the dollar, which pressures the Fed to raise interest rates, which rewards wealthy bond holders but hurts the middle class and low-income families. Similarly, giving or lending hundreds of billions of dollars to the largest financial companies will put the taxpayer on the hook to the wealthiest stockholders of banks instead of helping those in need. So, it's class warfare, plain and simple.

When I graduated college over ten years ago I was concerned about "selling out to the Man." This is a term often repeated at Berkeley which refers to becoming a pawn in someone else's corporate game. The danger is that selling out results in the subversion of humane values to corporate values. An idealistic students finds himself working (possibly for 40 years) on behalf of faceless financial greed, social and environmental exploitation, and the perpetuation of hundreds of years of Anglo-European imperialism.

The opposite of "selling out" is "buying in." But "buying in" is not easily discovered. Its not so easy to find organizations that allow you to work for social and environmental sustainability, but the optmistic view says that more people and organizations are looking to do this every day.

The connection to the bail out is that instead of bailing out risky financial institutions, let's use those hundreds of billions to support sustainability. Instad of Bail-Out, let's Susta-In. It's public money, so let's use it in the public interest.

By the way, and I'll probably devote a longer blog post to this soon, but the monetary system is based on the creation of debt. Money is created when debt is created. Money is backed by debt. When the debt disappears, money disappears. Fractional reserve banking mean the banks only need to cover 10% or less of their outstanding loans with collateral, so if a fraction of loans cease to be re-paid, then banks quickly become insolvent. The interest rate makes this process even more unstable, because loans must be re-paid with positive compound interest, but the money to pay the interest is only created through more loans with more interest due. So, there is a compounding snowball of debt that follows everyone around. This is the cause of much societal distress. Should we "save" this system? Or let the debt-interest monetary system self-destruct (as it perpetually does), and build a more sustinable monetary system built on equality and long-term sustainability? For more information, here's a link to a great essay by FEASTA that discusses a global monetary reform in more detail.

Rawls from "The Wire" ran the FBI Anthrax Case; What about Cheney?

2008-08-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

A character named Rawls in the TV show "The Wire" is a "careerist" whose main priority is to get his clearance rate up. He pushes his employees to close cases as fast as they can, regardless of whether they solve the crimes, improve the city, or get any justice. Whenever Detective McNulty or anyone else in his unit shows any initiative, Rawls humiliates or demotes him. The FBI Anthrax case was run by Rawls.

A lone gunman (bioscientist)? What was his motive? Why target Daschle and Leahy, and the media? Our country would fall apart without the concept of "a few bad apples." From the genocide of the Native Americans to Abu Ghraib, the "few bad apples" hypothesis has allowed those in power to point to a scape goat, close the case, and spare the American people the difficulty of asking deeper questions.

The lone bioscientist (who committed suicide and so can't deny it) is convenient for several reasons. First, the FBI can close the case, making Rawls very happy. Second, a closed case precludes asking any inconvenient questions. It's possible that the Anthrax mailings were overseen by people high up in the government (aka Cheney with Ashcroft's help), and the lone bioscientist is a red herring.

Here's the case for Cheney. You tell me if it's any less speculative than the case for Ivins. Cheney told Leahy to "go f- himself" on the Senate floor. The Senate was 50-49 at the time, due to Jeffords defection, and one less Democrat would make Cheney the tie-breaker and swing the Senate to the Republicans. Post-9-11, Cheney had a long agenda, and he had Ashcroft nearby to consult with. Ashcroft had lots of experience masterminding the plane crash of Gov. Mel Carnahan two weeks before his own electoral defeat in 2000, and a possibly connection to Sen. Wellstone's crash as well (I'm willing to add a conditional to this part of the conspiracy theory). Cheney was far enough up the chain of command that any of his orders would be unquestioned by someone at Ivins' level. Even if the mail did not reach it's target, Cheney would consider the operation a success if it prolonged the fear of terrorism or expanded the list of threats to include bio-terrorism so that the Congress and the American people would support the Bush-Cheney War on Terror agenda. Oops, I forgot to mention Rumsfeld. I don't think Rumsfeld was involved in this particular operation, although I'm open to being convinced otherwise.

This is pure speculation, but it seems that works for the FBI, with Rawls' approval. Sorry guys, I say the case is still open.

Additional note: Ivins was a registered Democrat.
Additional notes in comment.

Dear Fearful Blue-Dog Congressperson

2008-07-23T18:17:00.000-07:00

Below is a letter I just sent to my fearful blue-dog Congressperson, encouraging them to support Rep. Kucinich's impeachment resolution H. Res. 1345. H.Res. 1345 says Bush should be impeached because he "deceived Congress with fabricated threats of Iraq Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) to fraudulently obtain support for an authorization for the use of force against Iraq and used that fraudulently obtained authorization, then acting in his capacity under Article II, Section II of the Constitution as Commander in Chief, to commit US troops to combat in Iraq." Sounds pretty reasonable to me.

I sometimes feel bad for the poor, cowering blue-dog, trying to maintain a hawkish exterior while you watch our security dwindle, the economy fall apart, and your reasoning for continuing to fund the Cold War era half-trillion dollar boondoggle of obsolete techno-toys for men with inferiority complexes about their genitalia. Your ideology is outdated. Enough of the Dr. Strangeloves and the George C. Scott generals. It was probably all fun and games in the 50's and 60's, but we have a real problem on our hands now. People are dying in Iraq because of Bush's lies, and global warming (and peak oil) are about to body-slam the global economy. No more silliness. Clean up your mess and go to your room.

By the way, I don't care what the meaning of "is" is. This isn't pro-forma political theater we're talking about. This is calling the President to explain why he lied. He'll say, oh, Tenet said this or that. But sorry, the Buck stops, so time to take the heat or get out of the kitchen. OK, that's my preamble to the letter, as follows.

Dear Fearful Blue-Dog Congressperson:

The American people do not support the War in Iraq. We need the money being wasted there to help us here. We need to address global warming, the REAL threat to Homeland Security. We can't waste billions and trillions of dollars, and if the military-industrial complex happens to reside in your congressional district, it is up to you to show leadership, and tell them, point blank, the Cold War is over, we don't need these milti-billion dollar missiles and bombers and fighter jets. The Soviets are gone. We need renewable energy technologies, and we need these aerospace companies to get off corporate welfare, stop making killing machines while the polar ice caps melt and endanger the future for our children. We need them to change their business model, and stop the war machine. We need our Congressional Representatives to say this in public. And we should hold the President accountable, and have a full debate about why we are in Iraq. It's an election year, why not ask where billions of tax payer dollars are going, with no stay the course strategy, and no exit strategy. If you happened to make a bad decision to get us into war, you can follow John Edwards' example and confess to it, tell us why you were misled, point the finger at the people who told lies, like Rumsfeld and Cheney, and reassure your constituents that you will hold the liars accountable. Don't be the victim. Take the initiative. Don't let the Republicans set your agenda for you, and don't fall into their "bleed the Treasury" strategy to de-fund social programs through military deficits. Change course. Change we are told we can believe in. Can we? Let's end Rumsfeld's legacy now. www.rumsfeldinvaders.com

The High Price of Lowering Emissions

2008-07-13T14:40:00.000-07:00

Let's pause to consider Hummer's eminent demise. How did we succeed, when only a few years ago Hummer was riding high? Two words: gas prices. Not moralizing. No clever slogan on my cardboard sign. No sudden ethical epiphany. The nice thing about the price signal is I don't have to stand outside the Hummer dealership with a bunch of small dogs and a megaphone anymore. I can just sit back and blog, and each day millions of people make decisions based on economic pain. Hmm.

Wouldn't it be better to have the economic system set up so that it causes less pain, but people know in advance what to expect, and that sustainable decisions will be automatically rewarded? This is the idea behind "Capitalism 3.0," a book that I highly recommend. Also Carbon Share, and Cap and Share show ways that we can take the initiative, rather than get beaten up by the system.

I'll be adding more on this topic soon. I've been in discussions with green people about how to spend GHG emission auction permit revenue. I think it should go toward making the system fair, so that the system will last, and we'll get more reductions in the long run. Also, because it's the fair and ethical thing to do. Poverty reduction and solving climate change are ONE! But the green people say no. They want all funds to go towards subsidies for solar, and public transit etc. There are several implications to this. It's a techno-solution orientation rather than an economic justice focus. I think I need to reach out to a different constituency. The green people have been beaten down for so long, they are so thirsty, they'll drink their whole water supply ignoring that they still have 40 years in the desert.

The Hip Hop Return of the Fundis

2008-07-13T13:27:00.000-07:00

I thought Hillary's defeat by Obama was a hopeful sign of the changing of the guard for the Daschle-ing weak Dems who have been caveing to the Bush agenda, and been furthering the corporate takeover of our country since 1980. I'm tempted to declare pre-emptive victory: Rumsfeld's resigned, Hummer is going out of business, and peak oil is kicking, raising the price of oil to accomplish the reluctant energy efficiency, reduction in vehicles miles traveled, and investments in more sustainable technologies that we've waited until the 11th hour to start on. But what if Obama is more about rhetoric and less about action? What if we feel good, but he only makes superficial changes, and 4 years from now, sure the Iraq War's over, and we're back to a Clinton-era baseline, maybe some more funding for health care and education, and an EPA a little less like the one in the Simpson's Movie than the one we have now. "The Repubs are worse" argument doesn't mean anything to me. Is "back to the 90's" enough? How much change can we believe in? (I like the idea of believing. I'd like to agree with R. Kelly about the flying too. But I'm waiting before I decide.)

The German Green Party in the 1980's was a tug-of-war between two factions: the realos and the fundis. The realos wanted the Greens to engage in electoral politics and take seats in Parliament in order to enact policies such as banning nuclear power in Germany. The fundis thought that was a waste of time, and that the electoral presence's main purpose was to raise awareness of the movement happening outside the electoral domain. Petra Kelly was a well-known realo, and Rudolf Bahro was a well-known fundi. Bahro's writing is very provocative, especially "Building the Green Movement." In one of his essays he compares the current situation of western civilization with the Roman Empire around 200 AD. Everyone knew the empire would crumble and that all aspects of their life would soon change, but it took a few hundred years and several generations for it to actually become final. In the meantime, people formed local groups to find a more communal, spiritual, less materialistic way to live during the constant warfare. Those became the first Christian monastaries, where people focused on growing food, prayer, and small scale art like illuminated manuscripts. It's a bit of a romantic vision of the Dark Ages, but if we're headed for another one, maybe it's better to look at the bright side than the dark side.

And in 2008, voters have a choice to vote realo or fundi. The Realo vote would be for Obama, thinking that Al Gore will become a special adviser to the Pres, and hope that we get more now than we got in the 1990's now that the Dems will control all 3 branches.

There are actually two potential fundi votes: Cynthia McKinney for the Green Party, or the perennial indepedent Ralph Nader. Typical, since no two fundis can ever agree on anything.

Immanuel Wallerstein writes in the "The Decline of American Power" that the Old Left in the 19th century followed a two-step program: 1) obtain state power, 2) transform the world. He says this strategy has been shown to fail, but we keep falling back to it. He says the WTO protests and resulting World Social Forum shows that post-state organizing for a global movement is more effective, and we should only use defensive electoral strategies as a back-stop to prevent the state crackdown on the movement. In this case, if we feel Obama would not arrest us for organizing and protesting, then he's a backstop. But we shouldn't rely on him for the change we seek. And interestingly, that's what Obama says too. Which is either very clever, or perhaps sincere.

I just read about the Green Party's Vice Presidential nominee, Rosa Clemente.
She is a 35-year old Puerto Rican-American hip hop activist from NYC.
So I thought, hip hop activist? So I went to her website, and sure enough, on the front page, is an endorsement from M1 of dead prez. Seeing that, I thought OK, that's the only endorsement you need if you want cred as a hip hop activist.
M1 would be a pretty good secretary of defense, considering his name is also the name of a tank, and half his songs are about using guns for freedom. I guess his call for revolution could be seen as threatening to the J Edgar Hoover/Ashcroft US Gov. But maybe it's just "change we can believe in" with a little more zing.

It's funny that this year both the Dems and the Greens are definintely reaching out from their usual whitey-Whole Foods-y-constituency. I remember seeing The Coup at a KPFA event in Berkeley a few years ago, and the old hippies were trying (but failing) to get down with the boogie. It's looking like the political conventions are going to have better beats this year. Well, except for McCain, who is looking like the Vanilla Ice of 2008. Maybe he should pick Eminem as his running mate. Eminem would do well in a debate, showing his butt like in 8-mile, but it sounds like Rosa would hold her own, and M1 would make a great Press Secretary.

Boots Riley for Senate?

Hummer is Screwed; Chihuahuas Happy

2008-06-03T19:05:00.000-07:00

Chihuahuas Against Hummers News Release:

Several Chihuahuas were seen celebrating the latest news about Hummers. The gas-price-inspired consumer revolution is pretty amazing, when you think back just a few years. In 2003, we stood with our small dogs and our signs outside the Hummer dealership, educating the public about fuel efficiency, climate change and militarism, while so called patriots gave us the finger. Well, apparently the invisible hand has now smacked those polluters upside the head. For more information on Chihuahuas Against Hummers, type "Hummer protest" into Google. #1 baby! What's bad for General Motors is good for the planet. Ok, who's left? Cheney?

- - - - -

General Motors (NYSE: GM) announced today that it will cease production at four plants that build pickups, SUVs and medium-duty trucks, and that it will conduct a strategic review of the Hummer brand in response to growing demand for fuel-efficient vehicles in North America.

"Higher gasoline prices are changing consumer behavior, and they are significantly affecting the U.S. auto industry sales mix...At this point, we are considering all options for the Hummer brand ... everything from a complete revamp of the product lineup to partial or complete sale of the brand," Wagoner said.

The company also said it will react to the shift in the U.S. market by increasing production of small and midsize cars and reducing production of pickups and truck-based SUVs.

Wagoner said General Motors Corp.'s board also approved the production schedule of the Chevrolet Volt in Detroit, and the company plans to bring the plug-in electric car to showrooms by the end of 2010. The Volt runs on an electric motor and has a small engine to recharge its batteries.

- - - - -

It's nice when economics is on your side, for once. That's why I've been promoting Carbon Share.

Lieberman and Edwards: Twice Vice?

2008-05-26T18:51:00.000-07:00

Any predictions I make will be proven wrong before I even post them. So consider these idle speculations, not predictions.

If McCain picks Lieberman (in Yiddish, Loybermoin) as his Vice, he nullifies Obama's "post-partisan" image. McCain also sheds some of the Bush-Repug baggage and reaches out to independents and disaffected Hillary voters- Obama's territory. According to some other blogs, the Jewish vote might flee (although I'm not convinced because of the Iraq/Rumsfeld/warmonger issue), and this could impact Florida and Pennsylvania in the general election. McCain will still have to campaign with his right-wing friends to try to get out that vote that is suspicious of him.

If Obama picks Edwards, he may try to make a play in Southern states, focus more on working class economic issues, and try to exploit McCain's ties to lobbyists and corporations. Some people think that Edwards would make a much better Attorney General, and that he wouldn't want to run for Vice again. The other potential pick for VP that I thought was interesting is Claire McCaskill, Senator from Missouri. This would be an overture to the women's vote, and MO is a swing state in the middle of red territory. But will the Hillary backers be able to stomach a placebo?

(In case you were wondering, Nader already picked Matt Gonzalez as his running mate, but I'm not sure who Cynthia McKinney (running for the Green Party) picked)

A tough question for the candidates

2008-02-11T22:09:00.000-08:00

First of all, to any "moderates" who might be reading this: There is a substantive difference between McCain and Hillary. McCain might have been a straight talker in 2000, but now he is beholden to the far-right, including neo-con pro-war Repubs that lurk behind Bush's worst policies. Hillary, even if she chooses Wesley Clark as her running mate, will be need to keep Nancy Pelosi and others more liberal than her happy. Think about it.

Second, I believe Obama is more electable than Hillary, due to her divisiveness. After 8 years of Bush, what a waste to make the election a referendum on Hillary rather than a referendum on Bush. Obama would pick up the states Hillary won (CA, NY), but Hillary would not pick up Kansas, Idaho, etc. Think about it, superdelegates.

Finally, I think that the candidates need to be asked a serious question, since all 3 of them are in the Senate and may get to vote on this horrendous military budget that swallows up all chance of making any real social or environmental progress on this ice-cap-melting planet. The answer to this question may determine who I end up voting for (and I'm not above a write-in), so c'mon candidates, answer this one right, and you may get the prized Rumsfeld Invaders constituency:

“Senator, in all your previous debates, you have not criticized the bloated military budget so often documented by the media, Pentagon audits and GAO reports for Congress to be replete with waste fraud and abuse. The Soviet Union is gone. Yet military spending now consumes half of the federal government’s operating expenditures. 1/2 a trillion dollars a year?! While New Orleans still lies in ruins?!

“Specifically, what would you do to significantly reduce the tens of billions of wasted dollars and eliminate redundant weapons systems? Would you support cutting the military budget in half, starting next year?

“And, further, would you abolish the missile defense project, deemed by the American Physical Society and other leading physicists to be technically unworkable (and the original inspiration for Rumsfeld Invaders)? It costs about $10 billion a year with a total expenditure of over $150 billion since its inception under Ronald Reagan, without any indication that it can fulfill the function for which it was designed?
What about the Iraq War? Remember, the sooner you de-fund it, the sooner our troops come home, and the sooner we can work on Real National Security, and Real Homeland Security (renewable energy, green collar jobs, healthier diets and lifestyles, etc.)
Please be specific.”

Homeland Security Means Being Vegetarian

2008-01-30T18:48:00.000-08:00

From a terrific article in the New York Times:

Excerpts from "Rethinking the Meat Guzzler":

In the last five months alone, the Brazilian government says, 1,250 square miles were lost to burning and cutting of the country’s rain forests for crop and grazing land.

Per capita meat consumption has more than doubled since 1961.

The U.S. kills nearly 10 billion animals a year for food, more than 15 percent of the world’s total.

An estimated 30 percent of the earth’s ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which also estimates that livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases — more than transportation.

2.2 pounds of beef is responsible for the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the average European car every 155 miles, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days.

The majority of corn and soy grown in the world feeds cattle, pigs and chickens. Meat contributes to nearly three-quarters of all water-quality problems in the nation’s rivers and streams, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Meat contributes to health problems in the U.S. - heart disease, some types of cancer, diabetes.

“When you look at environmental problems in the U.S.,” says Professor Eshel, “nearly all of them have their source in food production and in particular meat production. And factory farming is ‘optimal’ only as long as degrading waterways is free. If dumping this stuff becomes costly — even if it simply carries a non-zero price tag — the entire structure of food production will change dramatically.”

If price spikes don’t change eating habits, perhaps the combination of deforestation, pollution, climate change, starvation, heart disease and animal cruelty will gradually encourage the simple daily act of eating more plants and fewer animals.

My comments: This all goes back to my proposal to change the focus of Homeland Security to reducing meat consumption. At the airport, a nurse would ask you about your eating habits. C'mon, let's follow the numbers and spend the money where we can save the greatest number of American lives. It's patriotic. God bless America, and on July 4th, or President's Day, let's eat veggie burgers.