Nearly half the members of one of the longest serving U.S. military units in Iraq are not eligible for a more generous military educational benefit,with some falling one day short of eligibility. […]
All 2,600 of the soldiers, who returned this year from Iraq, are eligible for money for school under the GI Bill. But nearly half discovered they weren’t eligible for a more generous package of benefits available to other soldiers.
Both Hobot and Anderson believe the Pentagon deliberately wrote orders for 729 days instead of 730. Now, six of Minnesota’s members of the House of Representatives have asked the Secretary of the Army to look into it-So have Senators Amy Klobuchar and Norm Coleman.
It seems that there is a post at political flesh feast claiming that I have “left” Docudharma. That is not the case. I don’t know why a person posted that I have. Whoever did so seems to be imitating pinche tejano, who has left DD, but whom I have not spoken with.
Since I been made aware of the existence of this post about me at PFF, I’ll proceed to answer a few things that came up there below the fold.
First of all, I have not left this site or Daily Kos. I have no intention of doing either. Should I eventually do so, I will inform the site admins here.
Second, I am not a site admin here. I do have contributing editor status (or whatever we call it) meaning I can post on the FP or promote other posts. I am not involved in the admin or rules of this site whatsoever. I am not involved in DD’s I/P site policy, nor have I given any input into any bannings of any posters. In regards to one poster (mattes) I inquired as to why she had not been reinstated, since initially I was aware of only a two-day suspension. Budhy told me that she could be reinstated by emailing him. Not being aware of the particulars of the circumstances of her suspension or that of anyone else, I have not commented on those decisions.
Further, I don’t plan to comment on them. Like at dKos, I have some relationship with many of the admins. Also likewise, those admins do not seek my input into their administrative choices. Since they do not ask, I do not give it. If I want my own blog to run how I think one should be, I can have it. At the blogs of others, I respect their liberty to make decisions as they choose. If they want my input, they can have it. If others wish to ask me my opinion, my email address has always been available, and they can ask. Since no one asks, my assumption, honestly, is that no one is interested.
I hope that clears up any misconceptions caused. Of course, as always, people are free to ask me whatever they like, and I will endeavor to answer them as honestly as possible in a timely fashion.
(Everybody sing! 6pm ET – promoted by buhdydharma )
John Mellencamp wrote a song about racism, which he titled “Jena”. From the linked website:
“I am not a journalist, I am a songwriter and in the spirit and tradition of the minstrel, I am telling a story in this song. [cut]
The song was not written as an indictment of the people of Jena but, rather, as a condemnation of racism, a problem which I’ve reflected in many songs, a problem that still plagues our country today.
He said he had previously stayed quiet, hoping that the town’s courtesy to people who have visited over the past year would speak for itself. “However, the Mellencamp video is so inflammatory, so defamatory, that a line has been crossed and enough is enough.”
Hanging nooses from a tree, according to Mayor McMillin in the article, is “insulting and hurtful”. But a SONG….that crosses a line, man…enough is enough!!!
You may remember him as the mayor who appreciates the support of white supremacists for their organization of rallies in support of white people, to counter largely African-American rallies in support of The Jena 6.
McMillin has insisted that his town is being unfairly portrayed as racist-an assertion the mayor repeated in an interview with Richard Barrett, the leader of the Nationalist Movement, a white supremacist group based in Learned, Miss., who asked McMillin to “set aside some place for those opposing the colored folks.”
“I am not endorsing any demonstrations, but I do appreciate what you are trying to do,” Barrett quoted McMillin as saying. “Your moral support means a lot.”
Is it me?
In a town where hanging nooses from a ‘white tree’ is considered a ‘prank’, a SONG is inflammatory? In a town that actually has a ‘white tree’, a SONG is inflammatory?
According to the Yahoo! article, Mayor McMillin is opposed to the images invoking the civil rights movement of the ’60’s, stating that use of such “cheapens their sacrifice and insults their memory.”
I wish I thought that he held their memory or their sacrifice in the kind of regard that would warrant its protection.
There are four basic sexes with their own particular accommodations and conventions applicable thereto. There are men who are physically attracted to women, men who are physically attracted to men and women vice-versa.
The Republican party rules are quite clear. You can serve your country in the military if you are a male attracted to males or female attracted to females as long as you keep your sexual orientation secret and particularly do not discomfort your heterosexual comrades in arms.
If a G.I. were to roll over in his bunk on a warm summer’s eve and make a clear request by voice or by body signals that he wished a fellow G.I. to join him in a sexual encounter he would by law have thus truncated his government career.
Public toilet decorum, by universally accepted convention, mandates don’t ask, don’t tap. Having some other gentleman address you while urinating with, “Hey, that’s a nice Johnson you have there.” clearly severs sexual oriented privacy, a verbal equivalent to your toe tapping, Senator Craig.
Mr. Craig, you tapped, you “told.”
Now however Mr. Craig, if you have found a gray area in the rules of toilet etiquette that allow you to discomfort your fellow citizenry; if you have a winning argument overriding the Republican fiat that holding a government office or military position is closed to those who ‘tap’, ‘tell’ or reveal that they are sexually attracted to their same sex, then I wish to hear your rationale.
Naturally, I sincerely do appreciate that your cosmic level hypocrisy helps send the myth of the GOP being the family values party to the crapper. (This an election boon of wonderful proportions.) Yet, it might be better if you would please consider, for our gay troops and others, that if in your heart you know full well that you can continue to serve your state and country despite your ‘tapping’ then making the same accommodation to all your fellow citizens might be the right stance to take.
The right stance is that you should consider for others as well as yourself who may serve and what behavior should truncate any Americans right to serve.
Every corporation or enterprise seeking success in their core endeavors is absolutely advised to have a cogent workable “Mission Statement” with which to focus the enterprise and its workers on a common goal. A desire for Americans to live secure in their homes through a long term plan to actualize planet wide peace by means other than force of arms should be integral to America’s goals.
Establishing a Cabinet level position to enshrine and thus execute this Mission Statement is a simple commonsense act signaling that America is committed via both human and material resources to bringing life, liberty and justice truly to all.
Organizers need a Senate sponsor and are working to bring out Ted Kennedy to sponsor this bill in the Senate.
Check out the site, http://thepeaceallia…. See who is sponsoring the bill.
See what your representative thinks or is doing.
“If you’re not afraid, you’re a coward” Rudi Giuliani GOP Bumper Slogan
Paul Waldman writes a good piece about Rush Limbaugh saga. I especially like his connecting Rush' New McCarthyism techniques to the Republican Party New McCarthyism on Iraq:
Think about how much time and effort they expend on convincing Americans that progressives and Democrats are “anti-military,” “hate the troops,” and even “hate America.” So any progressive veteran who criticizes Bush administration policies represents a profound threat to all the arguments they have made. It becomes particularly thorny when nearly the entire current leadership of the conservative movement — not only media figures like Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly, but also political figures including President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, and many others — were of draft age during the Vietnam war but managed to stay out of harm's way.
But Democrats and their allies like Move On do not win this battle by aping this strategy, as Move On wrongly did; this battle is won by Democrats standing up against these McCarthyite tactics and, more importantly, standing up to Bush on Iraq. That means not funding the Iraq debacle after a date certain. More.
In essence, the Republican message on national security is that Democrats are wimps. And Democrats like Carl Levin (D-MI), who write things like this, confirm the GOP message:
I voted against going to war in Iraq; I have consistently challenged the administration's conduct of the war; and I have long fought to change our policy there. But I cannot vote to stop funding the troops while they are in harm's way, conducting dangerous missions such as those recently begun north of Baghdad.
When Republicans portray Democrats as wimps, people like Carl Levin confirm that view with their mealy mouthedness. And pundits like Jon Alter reinforce this view:
It isn't easy to make the case for capitulation and gamesmanship when human lives are at stake, but I'm going to try. That's because many Americans—especially on the left—don't understand why Democrats in Congress had no choice but to proceed the way they have this week on the war in Iraq.
I'm going to concentrate only on the politics of the situation here, let's leave the human lives at stake aside. Ahhhhhh. Just writing that sentence tells us what is wrong with this thinking. The POLITICS won't let us leave that aside. For this is the essential Democratic problem, they are viewed as standing for nothing. For having no principles. As Ruy Texeira and John Halpin put it:
The thesis of this report is straightforward. Progressives need to fight for what they believe in — and put the common good at the center of a new progressive vision — as an essential strategy for political growth and majority building. This is no longer a wishful sentiment by out-of-power activists, but a political and electoral imperative for all concerned progressives. . . . [T]he underlying problem driving progressives' on-going woes nationally [is] a majority of Americans do not believe progressives or Democrats stand for anything.
Alter's thinking is a reflection of this.
This is why pushing back on Limbaugh is important, but not as important as not funding the Iraq Debacle.
Larry Johnson ex CIA and fascist advocate of torture and a member of what appears to be a nascent liberal fascist movement has written a piece on the CIA friendly website Booman Tribune that attempts to portray his position as trying to get the American Policy on Iraq and Iran “back into the realm of sanity”.
America must protect it’s long term interests in Iraq. America must stay in Iraq as long as it needs Iraqi oil. There is no other interpretation of this confused diary by Larry Johnson. It’s cute.
Johnson relates how he met with 14 members of Congress. Perhaps he met with Rahm Emmanuel who knowledge of Iraq is betrayed by his ignorance when he states that Saudi Arabia is governed by a Shiite majority aligned with the Shiites in Iran.
“The Iranians are a Persian culture and the House of Saud is a Shiite government, a total different culture and a different people and etc. The question about Saudi Arabia is there is a clear, they have been funding radical schools throughout the Mideast and it is a big problem for us.”
Crooks:
Um, no, Rahm. The ruling mullahs of Iran (who are Persian, you got that right, but that’s an ethnicity, not a religion) are Shi’a. The Saudis are Sunnis. That’s part of the problem. The “insurgents” in Iraq (at least, most of them) are Sunnis.
Larry Johnson says he was encouraged by the response of the illiterate group of fundraisers masquerading as public servants called “Congressman”.
Larry Johnson thinks we should avoid war with Iran but we should tell Iran “The United States will take appropriate steps to punish any groups or states who back terrorist attacks against our interests.”
Translation: We are going to steal your oil and land…they are American interests…anyone who tries to stop us is a terrorist. Please. Doesn’t anybody know how to read between lines in this country? Is it even reading between the lines? How can so called “liberals” allow a person like this to represent “progressives”. Is it liberal to tell other nations we will take what we want from them because it’s in our interests? Isn’t it suggested therefore, that the “interests” of other nations is secondary to American interests and therefore Americans are superior to Iraqi’s in the same way that humans are superior to animals. We eat you because it’s in our interests…don’t take it personally or we will torture you before we eat you.
And this is exactly what President…or whatever you call it… Bush has said. We will attack Iran for providing weapons to the Shiites that kill American troops.
It just so happens that recently the Iraqi/Shiite government signed a deal with China for arms. The reason Iraq had to do this is because the United States is no longer supplying the Shiite, Iranian allied Iraqi government with weapons.
The U.S. has switched sides and is now supplying the Sunnis…who were until recently called “insurgents” with arms to fight the Shiite militias… who were…until recently called “the American trained Iraqi army”.
Now the Shiites are being called, “Al Queda in Iraq and the Sunnis are being called “converts to democracy”.
What is “liberal” fascist Larry Johnson’s solution for Iraq? Is it withdrawing the troops? NO!
Johnson advocates continued American presence in Iraq so that we can take the oil that belongs to Iraq from the Iraqi people for our “strategic interests”. I’m sure Johnson, being a good American, will give the Iraqi’s what Americans consider a fair price for the oil that America steals.
Johnson continues:
“Like it or not we have strategic interests, starting with oil, in the Middle East”.
“We are not going to run for helicopters and abandon Iraq for twenty years like it we did in Vietnam.” (Vietnam defeated the U.S. military and is now by all accounts a peaceful, prosperous nation friendly toward the United States with which the United States interacts in trade, commerce and tourism. This is what America’s abandonment of Vietnam produced.)
Johnson is saying we wouldn’t want that to happen to Iraq. How else can this ultra conservative, pro torture fascists comments be interpreted. For most readers, apparently it’s just sounds fine.
Johnson says, “We do not have a large enough military force in Iraq to separate the warring sides and impose a peace.” But Johnson who sounds more Hollywood than CIA says since we can’t get more troops there, we have to rely on….. THE “GREEN BERETS” “as long-term trainers for Iraqi military and police.”
Johnson has no understanding of the so called “warring sides”. The Sunnis and Shiites who have been set up against each other by the Americans themselves. People who got along together fine before the invasion but whom the American public has been told have always “hated each other”. Not so says Riverbend of Baghdad Burning and almost all other people from Iraq. It’s the American news media that says Sunnis and Shiites were at each other’s throats.
We have to start over, the never say die, (unless it’s somebody else who dies) Johnson says.
How long is long term? How do you measure this fascist’s naiveté? It’s not measurable. The stupidity of his arguments can only be compare to the paucity of his understanding of what is going on in Iraq.
Larry Johnson is dumb. Dumb as a furnace and he accurately reflects the utter stupidity and self-importance and self absorption and glazed mentality of a non-thinking, glossy, non-critical American public.
Tuesday night I had a quiz scheduled for my Java I class. At least I call them quizzes. Everyone knows they are exams, but calling it a quiz is an attemtpt to lessen the pressure. I count the overall grade on the quizzes as 25% of the total grade and count their best 5 out of 6, so each quiz is really 5% of the total grade, with one mulligan.
Projects (aka homework: programs they have to create) counts 50% of the grade. The final projects, which are individually created to be different for each student, counts 20% and the catch-all “classroom participation” is the other 5%.
Anyway, after letting them ask any question they wanted for the first 15 minutes, we started the quiz at 6:15pm. At around 6:35 one of my students finished (she’s good!), asked when she should return and went to her car “to chill.”
I told the students to get the hell out of the building. Some grabbed their stuff and some didn’t. I grabbed my purse and my bag as I left, but left homeworks I was grading spread across the teacher’s station. I managed to get the students all out and we went down the closest stairwell (the classroom is on the second floor).
That was a mistake. All of the students on the first floor were using that exit to leave the building, meaning we were essentially stuck in the stairwell for too many minutes. Next time…there’s always a next time…I will instruct my students to take the stairwell on the other side, which was essentially unused.
Why the students on the first floor did not exit through the doors in the front of the building…not available to those in the basement or the second floor…is beyond me.
Before I even crossed the street towards the gym, the rumors were rampant.
“Someone called the school threatening to shoot up the building.” Then why were people standing in the open in front of the gym across the street?
“Someone fired a shot in the building!” The building is an echo chamber. We all would have heard it. People in the toll booth on the Parkway would have heard it.
When the bomb squad showed up, questions were pretty much answered for me. We were told we would be let back into the building when the bomb-sniffing dog was done.
I imagine the dog is trained to detect chemicals. This was the Science Building. We were not going to get inside before the end of class.
So classes were canceled for the night. Some of my students located me and submitted their exams. Some didn’t. So we’ll try again this coming Tuesday, with a new quiz over the same material.
Every single one of the teachers I spoke with had the same thought. Someone was not prepared for an exam. Nobody was taking it seriously, since if a bomb really went off in the building, we would likely have been showered with bricks, mortar, and shrapnel.
But as long as the cops and an administrator were standing within a few feet of the front door, and the students were only backed up a few feet, how is one to believe it was serious?
One thing I did note. As a member of the Student Affairs Committee this year, where the subject of everyone wearing badges was broached (and pretty much rejected by the faculty…this is not a closed campus, so it is unfeasible), badges wouldn’t have helped in the least.
Unless maybe to identify us if a bomb might have gone off…in which case that’s a pretty darn gruesome idea.
As you read, someone lays beaten and bloody for the crime of caring too much, for the sin of fighting with ideas not guns. Imprisoned.
How can they go on without support? Is this asking too much?
If you can spare some time to walk & talk, open your heart & meet me after the jump.
Free Burma – Been There, Done That, Now What?
Thank You. It worked. We got heard. Even small and simple efforts can make a difference if enough people work together and more than 500,000 people from all over the world did just that.
Now It’s Time to Get Counted
Today, October 6, people are marching to protest suppression of dissent in Myanmar and to demonstrate global solidarity with their cause.
The developed world, we who benefit directly or indirectly, willingly or not, from the exploitation of the world’s poor have a special obligation to act.
Today in Asia, we had a very good turnout with people in many cities, people who would normally be reluctant to challenge or make public displays, peacefully marching in force in many cities.
Now I ask you, I beg you, to please do the same. Just report to march and be counted, it’s a simple, simple thing.
I’m afraid I can’t offer very well organized information for each US demonstration, just the following links that can help you find your way.
I hope you find time to march, it’s vital world leaders see the will of people worldwide to act for the welfare of Burmese people, for all oppressed people.
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in
Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in
Oh, let it shine, c’mon
Now everybody just sing along
Let the sun shine in
Open up your heart and let it shine on in
When you are lonely, let it shine on
Got to open up your heart and let it shine on in
And when you feel like you’ve been mistreated
And your friends turn away
Just open your heart, and shine it on in
~The 5th Dimension
(Words by James Rado and Gerome Ragni: Music by Galt MacDermot)
What is Passive solar? How does it differ from active solar technology? What are the benefits of passive solar technologies? Read on to find out.
By the way, this weekend marks the National Solar Tour by the American Solar Energy Society. You can check to see if there are any tour events in your area here
Here are some answers from Wikipedia, which explain and define the general principles:
Passive solar technologies convert sunlight into usable heat, cause air-movement for ventilation or cooling, or store heat for future use, without the assistance of other energy sources. Technologies that use a significant amount of conventional energy to power pumps or fans are classified as active solar technologies. Some passive systems use a very small amount of conventional energy to control dampers, shutters, night insulation, and other devices that enhance solar energy collection, storage, and use.
Passive solar technologies include direct gain and indirect gain for space heating, solar water heating systems based on the thermosiphon, use of thermal mass and phase-change materials for dampening indoor air temperature swings, solar cookers, the solar chimney for enhancing natural ventilation, and earth sheltering.
Passive solar systems have little to no operating costs, often have low maintenance costs, and emit no greenhouse gases in operation. They do, however, need to be optimized to yield the best performance and economics. Energy conservation reduces the needed size of any renewable or conventional energy system, and greatly enhances the economics, so it must be performed first. Passive solar technologies often yield high solar savings fractions, especially for space heating; when combined with active solar technologies or photovoltaics, even higher conventional energy savings can be achieved.
Why should we consider going solar? For myself, living in the desert it just makes common sense. Even if you live in the North where days of sunshine are more limited you can still harness the sunlight and heat and put it to good use, both to save money and to reduce your carbon footprint. Here are some factoids about energy use that give justification for cutting back our consumption of energy from the traditional grid system.
· Though accounting for only 5 percent of the world’s population, Americans consume 26 percent of the world’s energy. (American Almanac)
· In 1997, U.S. residents consumed an average of 12,133 kilowatt-hours of electricity each, almost nine times greater than the average for the rest of the world. (Grist Magazine)
· Worldwide, some 2 billion people are currently without electricity. (U.S. Department of Energy)
· Total U.S. residential energy consumption is projected to increase 17 percent from 1995 – 2015. (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
· World energy consumption is expected to increase 40% to 50% by the year 2010, and the global mix of fuels–renewables (18%), nuclear (4%), and fossil (78%)–is projected to remain substantially the same as today; thus global carbon dioxide emissions would also increase 50% to 60%.
· Among industrialized and developing countries, Canada consumes per capita the most energy in the world, the United Sates ranks second, and Italy consumes the least among industrialized countries.
· Developing countries use 30% of global energy. Rapid population growth, combined with economic growth, will rapidly increase that percentage in the next 10 years.
· The World Bank estimates that investments of $1 trillion will be needed in this decade and upwards of $4 trillion during the next 30 years to meet developing countries’ electricity needs alone.
· America uses about 15 times more energy per person than does the typical developing country.
· Residential appliances, including heating and cooling equipment and water heaters, consume 90% of all energy used in the U.S. residential sector.
· The United States spends about $440 billion annually for energy. Energy costs U.S. consumers $200 billion and U.S. manufacturers $100 billion annually.
General Passive Solar Design
This is a great guide to the introduction and principles to passive solar design if you are considering building a new home or retrofitting an existing one. Passive Solar Design Sourcebook
Again, I resort to the blockquotes, because they explain it better than I could.
Solar energy is a radiant heat source that causes natural processes upon which all life depends. Some of the natural processes can be managed through building design in a manner that helps heat and cool the building. The basic natural processes that are used in passive solar energy are the thermal energy flows associated with radiation, conduction, and natural convection. When sunlight strikes a building, the building materials can reflect, transmit, or absorb the solar radiation. Additionally, the heat produced by the sun causes air movement that can be predictable in designed spaces. These basic responses to solar heat lead to design elements, material choices and placements that can provide heating and cooling effects in a home.
Passive solar energy means that mechanical means are not employed to utilize solar energy.
o 1.1 Passive solar systems rules of thumb:
o The building should be elongated on an east-west axis.
o The building’s south face should receive sunlight between the hours of 9:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M. (sun time) during the heating season.
o Interior spaces requiring the most light and heating and cooling should be along the south face of the building. Less used spaces should be located on the north.
o An open floor plan optimizes passive system operation.
o Use shading to prevent summer sun entering the interior. The Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology (CREST) has an online lesson on calculation of Sun Angles and overhang calculations.
Solar Hot Water
One of the least expensive and easiest to self construct passive solar technologies is the solar hot water heater.
This is a photo of a simple outdoor solar shower I helped build up in the Northwest. Actually it was in a solarium attached to the house, not totally outdoors, but close. My budgies loved to hang out up there and sing to me and on occasion poop on me while I was in the shower.
This site’s El Paso Solar Energy Association guide to Passive Solar technologies has simple to build plans for making a solar hot water heater. (Other links on this site provide plans for making your own Solar still, cooking oven and food dryer.)
The passive solar water heater is known today by many names; PSWH, Batch Heater and Bread Box are the most common and then there is the very technical; Integrated Collector and Storage System (ICS).
The PSWH of today usually starts with a 40 gallon, glass lined tank. These tanks come disguised as ordinary electric water heaters, which are stripped of their appliance shell and insulation. Painted flat black, with high temperature engine or barbecue paint and they’re ready for solar.
Solar Technologies Program, US Dept of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. This site addresses active solar technologies such as photovoltaics. It also has a useful glossary of solar terms here
The calico cat is not an actual breed of pootie but the result of an interplay of sex linked genetics. They are usually female, although it is possible for a calico to be a male. They must possess three colors to be considered a calico.
I have had a lot of conversations at the vet office about the personality of calicoes and there seems to be a popular myth that they tend to be a bit on the dramatic side. Ahem, the calico in this household fits that description. She looks mellow in the picture. Our little black cat and her are still in a struggle for dominance three years after he arrived. He fights better, she is louder. Once when the spouse took her in for a routine vet visit she sat and howled so loudly people kept knocking on the door as he waited in the exam room to ask if she was alright.
Please don’t rec pony party. Hang out and chat and then visit some of the other excellent diaries.
