July 2010 archive
Jul 27 2010
Docudharma Times Tuesday July 27
Jul 27 2010
Muse in the Morning
 Muse in the Morning |
And the desire to hurt
‘Til sorrows vanish.
–the Dhammapada
Phenomena XXIV: resisting
 Game Pieces
|
Jul 27 2010
Natural Gas Vehicles: an ‘ethanol’-like boondoggle?
Despite all the green washing out there (and there is lots of it, lets be clear), corn-based ethanol is far from a panacea in terms of reducing America’s dependence on imported oil, dependency on fossil fuels, reducing greenhouse gases and representing a good investment for the taxpayer. While supporting corn ethanol is, it seems, great politics to get through the Iowa primary, independent study after independent study shows that it is not a good deal for the taxpayer, the economy, and the environment. The absolute ‘best’ case, from honest analysis, is that this is a very costly and inefficient path for very marginal reductions in fossil-foolish dependencies and minimal greenhouse-gas emission reductions. Other analysts come out with the conclusion that we actually lose ground in GHG emissions in returns for the $billions being pumped into corn ethanol.
Right now, we seem to be watching (in slow motion?) a headlong rush into another “ethanol”-like boondoggle driven, in no small part, by the $70 million or so that T Boone Pickens has put behind promotion of The Pickens’ Plan.
Jul 27 2010
An Option for Fun
Two parents now showing signs of dimentia related dysfunction. A house fire, boomerang kids who can’t leave, no prospects of a job and terminated unemployment benefits so I bought a horse trailer.
When I say Last Summer Before Armageddon I am not shitting.
Jul 26 2010
DREAM Now Letters: Wendy
The “DREAM Now Series: Letters to Barack Obama” is a social media campaign that launched Monday, July 19, to underscore the urgent need to pass the DREAM Act. The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, S. 729, would help tens of thousands of young people, American in all but paperwork, to earn legal status, provided they graduate from U.S. high schools, have good moral character, and complete either two years of college or military service. With broader comprehensive immigration reform stuck in partisan gridlock, the time is now for the White House and Congress to step up and pass the DREAM Act!
President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
My name is Wendy and I am a daughter, a friend, a student, and, most importantly, a dreamer. I came to this country in 1999 from Peru when I was seven years old, accompanied by my mother, father, and sister. Getting on the plane, I did not know that words like “undocumented” and “dreams” would play such a major role in my young adult life. Growing up in New York, I began to embrace the United States and the feeling of being an American; I learned to balance this country’s traditions with my own without difficulty. I came to notice that the people around me, regardless of their different ethnic backgrounds and customs, were not so different from me after all.
Jul 26 2010
We Didn’t Have Computers, An Internet, 24/7 Cable News or a Wikileaks
By now most have heard about the Afghanistan Docs, some 92,000, that were released by Wikileaks and with coordinated release at roughly the same time by three News Media outlets:
The Guardian: Afghanistan war logs: Massive leak of secret files exposes truth of occupation
Der Spiegel: The Afghanistan Protocol; Explosive Leaks Provide Image of War from Those Fighting It
Whoever hasn’t will as it’s become the main News Story today hitting every level and the links above give you the main outlets of the reports on the documents released and more.
Jul 26 2010
News at Noon
| From Reuters |
BP’s Hayward to step aside as Gulf work resumes
By Tom Bergin
July 26, 2010
| (Reuters) – BP Plc is expected to install an American troubleshooter as chief executive in the next 24 hours, replacing Tony Hayward, who has come under fire for his handling of the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
Bob Dudley, an American who is managing the response operation to the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, is poised to get the top job in a move that could soften U.S.-led attacks on the British oil major, sources close to the company say. Shares in BP, which has lost 40 percent of its market capitalization since the blast that caused the spill, rose 2.5 percent to 408.26 pence by 6:22 a.m. ET. |
Related Stories
BP CEO to walk away with $18 million: report
BP’s diplomat Dudley in line to become CEO
Jul 26 2010
Mockery
http://driftglass.blogspot.com…
And to my fellow travelers on the Left who despair at the realization that our homegrown enemies of democracy do not respond to reason and right, I would remind them that we have access to an inexhaustible stockpile of the one weapon against which they have always been powerless:
“The Devil, the proud spirit, cannot endure to be mocked.”
— St. Thomas More
Jul 26 2010
Conscience Clauses, Civil Disobedience, and Uncivil Discourse
In this country, a long tradition exists of individuals who have refused to perform a particular duty or task, citing their religious beliefs as justification. The very definition of Civil Disobedience, of course, depends on the person, the situation, and how it is applied. The latest incident has opened up a discussion which has never really subsided, only dipped underneath the radar from time to time. In this circumstance, a Texas bus driver, who is also an ordained conservative Christian minister, claims that he was fired for not taking a women to Planned Parenthood. His decision is in the same vein as those of pharmacists who, stating moral reasons, will not dispense the morning-after pill to women who request it.