Senator Byrd loved the USA Constitution and the people he represented. He openly wept on the Senate floor for the late Senator Kennedy.

But, he openly distained the Bush Administration for its abuses of Constitutional Law and openly brought that disdain to the Senate Floor.
 
Good-bye and Thank you, Senator Byrd.
 

 
 

The Fleecing of the American Citizen continues compliments of 'Approval Seeking' Brown. He can't discern what is best without a constituent vote.

...Senator Scott Brown, a Massachusetts Republican, said he was withholding support, citing $19 billion in new bank taxes inserted at the last minute.  (click title to entry - thank you)

Just can't trust a playboy.

This guy is at least as bright as Ali Velshi who believes a 'local economy' is defined by BP franchises.

Hasn't anyone on Capital Hill explained the facts of life to 'surfer boy?'

When a Congressional body passes REFORM legislation to REGULATE an industry there has to be a way of paying for it.  Perhaps, Brown has overlooked the fact that most of the banks that CAUSED the ECONOMIC CRASH of the USA in 2008 that has RESULTED  IN  HIGH  UNEMPLOYMENT are turning profits in the double digit billions US. 

Let's see.

...That would put Goldman's estimate of second quarter profits at the four at $756 million for Morgan Stanley, $2.3 billion for Bank of America, $2.9 billion for JPMorgan, and $1.5 billion for Citi....

http://blogs.forbes.com/streettalk/2010/06/21/goldman-bank-2q-profits-down-bad-but-not-a-disaster/


It would seem as though Lover Boy can't come to grips with the problem of making Wall Street banks pay for the regualatory authority that will protect consumers.   You know 'the small people.' 

Scot Brown rather play 'footsie' with Wall Street Banks to INSURE exorbitant profits while there are high umemployment rates throughout the country.

See, Scottie doesn't seem to understand LEGISLATION TO REGULATE means that Wall Street Banks CAN'T pass on the taxes to consumers, they can't raise interest rates, they can't do any of those nasty things, but, they do have to pay for their own regulation because they are greed merchants and not ethical business people.

Of course, in some perverted Republican 'mindset' any tax turns into a cost to consumers and a slush fund for Democrats.  It is the ONLY way they can operate their propaganda campaigns that deprive the American people of a FUNCTIONAL government.

...Brown’s ire over the levy on big banks and hedge funds, which he said would be passed on to consumers, highlighted the difficulties Democrats will face getting the compromise legislation passed in the Senate. Brown and several other Republicans provided crucial support for passage of an earlier Senate bill.
The $19 billion in new taxes would be imposed on large institutions over five years, and the money mostly would be used to pay for costs of increasing regulation over 10 years. It also would pay for $1 billion in federal bridge loans for unemployed homeowners facing foreclosure....

So, I am suppose to believe, as an average citizen, that a tax imposed on abusive Wall Street Banks practicing outside any understanding of an 'ethical business model' is going to cause me hardship, right?

I see.

Well, I suppose if I was delving into Hedge Funds and my costs went up that might be a concern, but, being that I may very well be an unemployed homeowner, suffering from the unethical standards of greed merchants, Brown might want to rethink his vote IN FAVOR of the legislation that is LONG overdue!

He needs to stop having his back scratched by unethical supporters and start actually acting like a legislator that cares about the citizen whom's credit score was RUINED due to the failed economy that we were all led to believe was a good economy for seven years under Bush/Cheney.

If anyone that is 'wthholding' their vote regarding Wall Street Reform actually believe they ARE NOT unethical, needs to think again.

"Who's your Daddy?"

"Morning Papers" - Its Origins

The Rooster
"Okeydoke"

April 22, 1970 was the first Earth Day. Forty years later not much has changed. It shows.

We have found through painful ways, we have to save ourselves. 

Send an SOS with ideas and support to Secretary Chu.  (click title to entry - thank you)

THE  NATURAL  WORLD  MATTERS.

Don't believe me, read this:

'Natural' sunscreen: Better for you?

...But do they work?

"Yes," says Jeffrey Dover, president of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, but consumers typically don't put on enough of the natural products to make them effective. (In general, the American Academy of Dermatology recommends that consumers use enough sunscreen to fill a shot glass.)...

http://www.latimes.com/features/image/la-ig-naturalsunscreen-20100627,0,6048986.story

There is no such thing as Clean Coal Techology. And 'Tar Sands' are an environmental nighmare.

Coal Gasification Plants are less toxic than Biomass Plants, but, they still emit huge amounts of carbon dioxide.  The Gasification process was developed after the Clean Air Act was passed.  It is a process that allows the burning of coal at a lower temperature to prevent high levels of NOX and SOX to enter the 'breathable air' which ultimately leads to toxic waters and contaminated fisheries.

The only 'real' carbon sequestration is that of trees.  When they finish providing 'service' to Earth in the way of carbon sequestration and wildlife habitat they die and degrade to SOIL. 

Not only has coal mining been a nightmare for air and water quality, it been a nightmare to the people that life among the industry and work in it. 

We have witnessed the tragedy of the Massey mines and other such ? accidents ?.  Recently, a Kentuckian by the name of Ashley Judd spoke at The National Press Club about the destruction of The Hillbilly Culture she grew in as a child.

The C Span link to Ms. Judd's one hour presentation:  http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/293979-1


"Veto the Permit for Arch Spruce Mine Number One"




Tar Sands, the nightmare far away in Northern Canada, worse than coal and oil.

Tar sands (also referred to as oil sands) are a combination of clay, sand, water, and bitumen, a heavy black viscous oil. Tar sands can be mined and processed to extract the oil-rich bitumen, which is then refined into oil. The bitumen in tar sands cannot be pumped from the ground in its natural state; instead tar sand deposits are mined, usually using strip mining or open pit techniques, or the oil is extracted by underground heating with additional upgrading.

http://ostseis.anl.gov/guide/tarsands/index.cfm


Energy



Crude Awakening


Right here in North America could lie the answer to our energy needs. But at what cost? Mining the tar sands of Alberta threatens to strip the world’s largest intact forest of its ability to hold carbon and to wipe out the breeding grounds for millions of birds.


By Barry Yeoman/Photography by Jon Lowenstein
 
http://audubonmagazine.org/features1003/energy.html

2011 Chevy Volt

You can tell Volt is ready to change the world just by looking at it. Check it out for yourself. You can download images and wallpaper and share them with your friends.
(click title to entry - thank you)

The Hydrogen Fuel Cell car is going forward.

Hydrogen cars are not only the future, they are here, now. When hydrogen cars become the status quo, the U. S. can lessen its dependence upon foreign oil, achieve lower prices at the fuel pumps and cut down on the greenhouse gases that produce global warming.  (click title to entry - thank you)
















BMW Hydrogen 7 Luxury Automobile

http://www.hydrogencarsnow.com/bmw-hydrogen7.htm

...and this is the 'rant' by the Right Wing Republicans. This is solving problems or causing them?

The beginning of understanding solar energy was a good start, but, the potential in the year 2010 is incredible.

A massive switch from coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear power plants to solar power plants could supply 69 percent of the U.S.’s electricity and 35 percent of its total energy by 2050. 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-solar-grand-plan



Consumer Energy Tax Incentives  (click title to entry - thank you)



What the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Means to You


The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 extended many consumer tax incentives originally introduced in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT) and amended in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-343).
See the summary of the energy tax incentives included in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008....

In the previous entry, Dr. Chu speaks about 'Biomass' in regard to ethanol, biodiesel and liquid fuels. He NEVER refers to 'biomass' as a source of electricity.

This is just about the most ludicrous from of energy within the USA.  There is no reason for it to exist.

In 2002, the Bush Administration 'renamed' Wood Burning Gasification Plants to 'Biomass Plants.' 

These plants use any form of biomass including any all kinds of animal waste product as fuel.  They also use trees.  They don't say they use trees, but, they do.  The 'residue' is chipped trees.  The residue can be gotten from any all forms of wood products.  There is a gross difference when wood is used for paper and lumber than when it is used for BURNING and adding carbon dioxide to the troposphere. 

There is a gross difference between using 'annual plants' such as 'prairie grasses' and 'wood residue.'  The 'turn-around time' of carbon dioxide is one year when prairie grass is grown for the purpose of ethanol production as opposed to ten years or more for any form of tree.  Additionally, there are trees such as Hybrid Poplar that are advocated to grow for biomass.  Hybrid Poplar has pollen no different than any other Poplar, where there are Poplar Plantation Forests there is insult to the biodiversity and in introduction to artificial LAND USE and artificial 'pollen danger' to 'native forest populations.'

Dr. Chris Fields, the Co-Chair of the IPCC Working Group has already stated, the forest globally are in danger of fire within the next several decades.  We are already witnessing forests ignite for little reason other than drought.  I don't care if someone dropped a match in the forest or intentionally lite the forest on fire, the RAPID SPREAD and FURIOUS nature of the wildfires are due to profound drought that was predicted over 15 years ago.  If forests are already known to be in danger than why continue to expand their use in a way that is increasing that danger by adding huge amounts of carbon dioxide to the troposphere?

Biomass Plants pollute far worse than coal plants.  Their carbon dioxide emissions are far higher as are their particulate matter, NOX, SOX and VOCs.  None of this makes sense.  None of it. 

There is no reason to justify 'unethical' use of trees for BURNING for the production of electrical energy when every bit of biomass these plants use can be turned into ethanol, biodiesel OR  FERTILIZER. 

Biomass Plants should be banned from further production.  The industry also lies in regard to the dangers of the 'ash' from these plants.  There is radioactive waste, including Actinium, along with heavy metals, such as boron and arsenic.  Because these plants masquerade as 'natural' energy with 'natural' waste they have been used in some states as 'agricultural amendment.'  An agricultural amendment was NEVER a fertilizer, but, farmers were told it would benefit their yields.  When farmers eventually realized the 'amendment' was contaminating their ground water they no longer hauled the ash away for free to add it to their agricultural production of crops.  YES, this is in the USA !

Biomass Plants need to be banned from use in the USA.  They are a public health harzard including causing lung disease and cancers.

,,,In the United States, biomass power plants burn a variety of feedstocks, including rice hulls in Louisiana and sugar cane residues, called bagasse, in parts of Florida and Hawaii. A vast majority, though, some 90 percent, use woody residue as a feedstock, according to the Biomass Power Association. About 75 percent of biomass electricity comes from the paper and pulp companies, which collect their residues and burn them to generate power for themselves.... (click title to entry - thank you)

ETHICS. The companies of Wall Street lack the ethics that measure up to the American Standard.

Robert Redford has worked for the Petroleum Industry as a Middle Class and Working Class citizen.  While his profession has changed he understands the 'struggle' to achieve a 'standard' of Energy Ethics that brings back 'sanity of the citizen.'

How many nuclear reactors are too many nuclear reactors?

This illustration above shows that there are 448 nuclear reactors of different types currently in operation in the world. We can see their distribution in the 30 countries that possess them, and the exceptional position of France, the second largest producer of nuclear energy after the USA.



The reactors are sited mainly in western countries, the countries of the former USSR, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, which have all reached an advanced stage of development. On the other hand nuclear energy is proportionately very small in developing countries with large populations, such as China, India, Indonesia, Latin America, Pakistan etc.

http://bastiat.net/en/cercle/meetings/Future_of_nuclear_energy.htm


This is the way Secretary Chu sees the future of nuclear energy:

"We are taking action to restart the nuclear industry as part of a broad approach to cut carbon pollution and create new clean energy jobs,” said Secretary Chu. “These projects will help us develop the nuclear technologies of the future and move our domestic nuclear industry forward."

Energy Secretary Steven Chu Announces $38 Million for 42 University-Led Nuclear Research and Development Projects (click title to entry - thank you)

Fuel Cycle Research and Development



(13 projects, $11,823,154)



 
Generation IV Reactor Research and Development



(20 projects, $19,855,912)



 
Light Water Reactor Sustainability



(2 projects, $764,140)


 
Mission-Relevant Investigator-Initiated Research
 
(7 projects, $5,556,816)



 
 
A list of selected projects can be found at: http://nuclear.gov/pdfFiles/NEUP_FY10_RDAwards.pdf .
 
Additional information on the Nuclear Energy University Program is available at www.ne-up.org.
 
 
And that was MILLIONS, not billions for much needed research.  One might ask, why didn't this happen with the Cheney National Energy Policy.  Hm?

Nuclear Energy is a complex set of systems. The chart below illustrates the complexity of the science and its application. Enlarge picture with click to title to entry here.

...To contribute design and safety of advanced nuclear energy systems, The Department of Nuclear Engineering and Management has three major research fields such as design science of next generation reactors, nuclear fuel cycle engineering and ageing management of nuclear power plants....

http://www.n.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/eng/modules/contents/index.php?id=6

The Nuclear Energy issue spans more subjects in regard to international relations than anyone wants to think about.  The focus is not whether we can make nuclear energy go away, we can't.  The focus is about responsible management of nuclear technology and how it is used globally. 

Some time ago, when the atom was split and then was applied as a weapon.  Since that time benevolent use of nuclear technology has been used as an excuse to facilitate nuclear weapon technology.  Not only that, but, the two countries with the most nuclear stores literally tried to insure their 'national security' by having more nuclear warheads that exhibited hundreds of times 'overkill.' 

Is 'overkill' actually 'responsible' use of nuclear technology.  I think not.  So much for the most powerful knowing the 'best' for the use of its own ability to apply technology.

Nuclear Energy is a reality.  The 'control' of its use and disposal of its waste still escapes the modern day use of that technology. 

Is that 'responsible' use by the most powerful nations on Earth?

I think not.

But does Chu actually understand the Climate Crisis with brevity or is this just a 'Liberal Game?' I'll let him tell you about the Climate Crisis.

He not only explains the Climate Crisis in logical terms related to the Ice Age, but, he focuses on energy conservation as a real tool to attack the Climate Crisis.

Deepwater Wind Research

...It is reported to be the first Department of Energy funding commitment expressly dedicated to so-called deepwater wind power research. During a visit Friday to the University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center where he was accompanied by Senator Susan Collins, US Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced a $20 million federal investment in deepwater wind energy research. Chu is an academic physicist and longtime proponent of alternate energy sources and of shifting away from fossil fuels.

As reported by BigNews.biz, Senator Collins reflected on the potential of deepwater offshore wind, and expressed hope that the new federal funding will help the Maine researchers meet their lofty goal of building the world's first floating turbine wind facility by 2012:
"I believe that deepwater, offshore wind has enormous potential to help us meet our nation's electricity needs and to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. But, it also presents an exciting opportunity for the State of Maine to create thousands of much-needed, good-paying green jobs," Senator Collins said.

This "You Tube" segment is from 2007, long before he was Energy Secretary,  I am confident Secretary Chu, who is heading up the efforts to stop the rupture of the BP 'BOP,' never expected such a tragedy. 
 

Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu. Never before and at such a critical time for the USA have we had a better chance to 'get it right.'

From Les Prix Nobel 1997

Steven Chu receiving his Nobel Prize from the hands of His Majesty the King at the Stockholm Concert Hall 1997

It's Saturday Night

"Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zepplin

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold

And she's buying a stairway to heaven
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven


There's a sign on the wall but she wants to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings
In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misleading
Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, it makes me wonder


There's a feeling I get when I look to the west
And my spirit is crying for leaving
In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees
And the voices of those who stand looking
and it makes me wonder
really makes me wonder


And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the forest will echo with laughter


GUITAR SOLO


If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean from the May Queen
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on
Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, Ooh, it makes me wonder


Your head is humming and it won't go, in case you don't know
The piper's calling you to join him
Dear lady, can't you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind


GUITAR SOLO


And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all is one and one is all, yeah
To be a rock and not to roll.


And she's buying the stairway to heaven

Admiral Mullens trip to the Middle East needed to recommit the Chain of Command and USA priorities in the Middle East.

US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen talks with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari (R)

That is the issue.  Whom sets the strategy?  The Taliban with Karzai's consent or the USA and NATO.  Karzai has an unrealistic view of the issue and continually demoralizes the strategy to bring about an impossible response to violence in Afghanistan.

...Karzai's emphasis on preventing civilian deaths and injuries could make it difficult for NATO to relax rules of fighting that some U.S. troops say give the battlefield advantage to the Taliban. For now, however, no changes have been proposed, said a spokesman for visiting Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.... (click title to entry - thank you)

I do not believe any American soldier is in military service to kill.  To simply kill.  They have a right to defend themselves and when fighting an insurgency, self defense is primarily the only time such military strength is needed. 

Building confidence in the military operation by the population of a country burdened with poverty and oppression is a primary tool to ridding the country of insurgency.  But, when the right to investigate reports or noted violence becomes a burden to the country, it demoralizes the military actions to stop the insurgency and costs the lives of soldiers.

NATO has a point in that there are unrealistic expectations placed on the forces in Afghanistan to protect the citizens.  The NATO casualities have gone up, along with the casualities of Americans, due to unrealistic views of the Karzai government.  In my opinion, they are corrupt standards for any military action.  Either Karzai is going to allow the presence of troops or he isn't.  In that lies the understanding any military is doing its level best to stop the killing.  But, to surrender to terms of the Taliban by Karzai and the military in Afghanistan is unrealistic.  The Talban need to surrender to Karzai, a much different paradigm to success.

In a recent radio interview with NPR, a USA soldier on the front lines in Afghanistan stated, they knew a house in the area would cause added violence, yet, due to the policies of Karzai and the acceptance of those standards they were unable to carry out necessary intervention/investigations; when the violence finally broke out there was a dead soldier that resulted.  In the opinion of 'the foot soldier' it could have been prevented if they were allowed to do their job.  That type of insight doesn't come without 'experience and commitment to purpose.'  When a soldier is defending him or herself and that of the others they rely on in their company/unit; frequently it is done in 'prevention' of violence NOT just in response to violence.

If there is to be success in the Middle East, the American military cannot be demoralized to operate in a standard that doesn't work for them.  The success of the military means the violence is stopped, not simply answered with equal or greater force to stress the power of the government over the insurgency.  Today, to the extent the current strategy has worked in reducing the civilian deaths, it has also failed in preventing soldier deaths. 

The 'idea' that an insurgent strategy can be defeated by allowing 'peacefulness' in the face of 'danger' is unrealistic and a poor example of how the 'nationalized military of Afghanistan' should  be responding.

The people of Afghanistan, through their leadership in Karzai, have to understand they don't 'own' their country so long as the Taliban are carrying importance to them and the 'idea' they hold government infrastructure 'on a local' level hostage to 'allowing the Taliban' back in when they are annoyed.  That reality is simply outrageous and a battle not worth fighting.  Basically, when the Afghans hold 'their commitment' to better quality of life as a bargaining tool to their cooperation to achieve it, that is a direct insult to the commitment the USA and NATO has made to assist that goal. 

There may be too much to overcome in Afghanistan nine years after September 11, 2010 and no matter how the USA commits treasure and talent nothing is appreciated or will change.  It was and is wrong for the USA to assume Afghanistan 'wants' the USA to be safe from extremists.

I believe people in Pakistan want to stop the extremists that 'hide' within their country and 'within' their faiths, but, the corruption has been so great for so long it is difficult to overcome and is complicated by issues that presents when a broader picture includes India and Kashmir. 

Admiral Mullens has his work cut out for him and I congratulate him in taking this trip and finding the will to examine the need for the USA in the Middle East and what our mission sincerely is and should be.  It may be to prudently leave countries in their misery if that is the path they choose, but, to protect ourselves from their priorities over ours.

According to the old advertisements by BP they weren't just oil. So, I looked into it.

The Governor of Michigan has an Alternative Energy Administration. 

They want to harness the wind energy of the Great Lakes. 

Canada has an interest as well. 

If I were BP I'd be asking the Michigan Governor when she wants to begin and using the four wind turbine plants in Michigan to begin production !

BP, Dominion announce full operation of largest wind farm in Midwest (click title to entry - thank you)Release date: 14 April 2009


BP Wind Energy and Dominion announced today full commercial operation of phase one of the Fowler Ridge Wind Farm in Benton County, Indiana. The first 400 megawatts of the project will generate enough carbon-free electricity to power about 120,000 homes.


Of the 400 megawatt facility, BP and Dominion are partners on approximately 300 megawatts. The two companies could expand the facility to a total of 750 megawatts in the future.
Construction of phase one of the wind farm 90 miles northwest of Indianapolis began in early 2008. Built by RMT, Inc., phase one utilizes 182 Vestas 1.65-megawatt turbines with a hub height of 262 feet and a rotor diameter of 269 feet, and 40 Clipper 2.5-megawatt turbines with a hub height of approximately 262 feet and a rotor diameter of 314 feet....