farmers marketing

fcc plans net neutrality

this is freaking some people out in the internet world, but it seems like a good thing to me?

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2009-09-19-internet-rules-fcc_N.htm

its a far cry form my idyllic anarchist world, but apparently we are not evolved enough to leave out regulating some seedy greedy mo fo’s…. i am all for keeping the big companies out of controlling the weblines and turning the interweb into cable television 2.0

most of the opposition to the new regulation is AT&T, comcast and other giants while most small businesses and silicon start-ups love the idea. that –to me– speaks volumes.

Coffee

Via: Times Online:

It might have been the golf tee that swung it for President Obama as he looked for a summer holiday retreat — but the 28 acres on Martha’s Vineyard, the swimming pool, private beach and basketball court may just have clinched it too.

Mr Obama and the First Family are planning to spend their summer break on a $20 million retreat on the wealthy playground island off Cape Cod and even seem undeterred that the property is owned by a Republican.

The choice of such an exclusive location will inevitably be fodder for the President’s Republican critics who decried his recent “date night” to New York with his wife, Michelle — an excursion that cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars at a time of deep recession and soaring unemployment.

According to the Vineyard Gazette, the resort island’s journal of record since 1864, the Obamas have chosen Blue Heron Farm, in Chilmark, recorded as America’s most expensive small town in 2007.

The farm features a swimming pool, golf practice facilities — Mr Obama plays regularly — a basketball court, access to a private beach and a rental price tag of up to $50,000 (£30,000) a week.

No deal has yet been struck on the property, but the rental agreement being negotiated has reportedly been split into three separate leases: one to be held by the Obamas — and paid for out of their own pockets — one by the Secret Service, and a third by the White House, which will be sending a large entourage to Martha’s Vineyard to accompany the President.

The farm holds a five-bedroom white Victorian-style farmhouse and three other dwellings, including a reconstructed Pennsylvania hay barn and Vermont shed. It has ocean views, private access to a stretch of Squibnocket Beach, and a private dock with kayaks and a yacht.

Mr Obama is due to take his holiday on Martha’s Vineyard during the last week in August. Mrs Obama and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, could arrive earlier and stay with friends elsewhere on the island. Bo, the new dog, is also reportedly going.

Blue Heron Farm belongs to William and Mollie Van Devender, Republicans who bought the property for $20.35 million in 2005.

Mr Van Devender, a Mississippi timber mogul, gave the maximum financial donation allowed under election laws to John McCain in last year’s White House race, and both the Van Devenders contributed to Fred Thompson during his unsuccessful run in the Republican primary.

“I do not want to talk about what you understand about this world. I want to know what you will do about it. I do not want to know what you hope. I want to know what you will work for. I do not want your sympathy for the needs of humanity. I want your muscle.” – Robert Fulghum

thanks barack, again

Michael R. Taylor, the former Vice President for Public Policy at Monsanto has returned through Washington’s revolving doors and will now advise FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg on food safety.
In March 1994, Taylor was publicly exposed as a former lawyer for the Monsanto corporation for seven years. While working for Monsanto, Taylor had prepared a memo for the company as to whether or not it would be constitutional for states to erect labeling laws concerning rBGH dairy products. In other words. Taylor helped Monsanto figure out whether or not the corporation could sue states or companies that wanted to tell the public that their products were free of Monsanto’s drug.
linky

Cap and Trade Explained

Just found a great explanation of the proposed “cap and trade” system for CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions from President Obama’s recent Earth Day speech in Iowa.

“And here’s how a market-based cap would work: We’d set a cap, a ceiling, on all the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that our economy is allowed to produce in total, combining the emissions from cars and trucks, coal-fired power plants, energy-intensive industries, all sources.”

“And by setting an overall cap, carbon pollution becomes like a commodity. It places a value on a limited resource, and that is the ability to pollute. And to determine that value, just like any other traded commodity, we’d create a market where companies could buy and sell the right to produce a certain amount of carbon pollution. And in this way, every company can determine for itself whether it makes sense to spend the money to become cleaner or more efficient, or to spend the money on a certain amount of allowable pollution.”

“Over time, as the cap on greenhouse gases is lowered, the commodity becomes scarcer — and the price goes up. And year by year, companies and consumers would have greater incentive to invest in clean energy and energy efficiency as the price of the status quo became more expensive.”

“What this does is it makes wind power more economical, makes solar power more economical. Clean energy all becomes more economical. And by closing the carbon loophole through this kind of market-based cap, we can address in a systematic way all the facets of the energy crisis: We lower our dependence on foreign oil, we reduce our use of fossil fuels, we promote new industries right here in America. We set up the right incentives so that everybody is moving in the same direction towards energy independence.”

From TerraPass blog: http://www.terrapass.com/blog/posts/obama-the-explainer

Yes

linky

Black Guy Asks Nation for Change

Still my favorite article of 2008….

CHICAGO—According to witnesses, a loud black man approached a crowd of some 4,000 strangers in downtown Chicago Tuesday and made repeated demands for change.

“The time for change is now,” said the black guy, yelling at everyone within earshot for 20 straight minutes, practically begging America for change. “The need for change is stronger and more urgent than ever before. And only you—the people standing here today, and indeed all the people of this great nation—only you can deliver this change.”

Enlarge Image The black guy is oddly comfortable demanding change from people he’s never even met.

It is estimated that, to date, the black man has asked every single person in the United States for change.

Fuck #2

The Obama administration fell in line with the Bush administration Thursday when it urged a federal judge to set aside a ruling in a closely watched spy case weighing whether a U.S. president may bypass Congress and establish a program of eavesdropping on Americans without warrants.

on a related note…

Just one day after George W. Bush left office, an NSA whistleblower has revealed that the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance program targeted U.S. journalists, and vacuumed in all domestic communications of Americans, including, faxes, phone calls and network traffic.

obama

“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.”

…..

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.”

…..

["Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive ... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].”

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.”

and so it begins….. bye bye bush, hello YOU and ME. will the change.

digg obama

obama and his transition team are working on some crowdsourcing projects that will allow the millions on his email lists to be involved in the political process. he has plans to work with google to create live blogging and formats that allow forum discussion of bills prior to him signing them. this not only gives a sliver of participation (that could explode) to those who wish to weigh in, but also makes the discussion more broad and inclusive. its like web 2.0, buts its government 2.0

here is a site that has started doing the same thing. Obama is planning to fully launch his own version when he takes office. pretty sweet. here is the first version of Obama’s

saul williams: progress progress

video poetry from a lyrical master and bright light…

What if the whole world could vote?

http://www.economist.com/vote2008/

howard zinn

bail-out = fail-out

i think that we have reached a real make or break point in the USA. what happens with our economy in this hour will determine the direction and fate the next few years. i wrote my congressman today to urge him to not vote in favor of the bush-paulson plan and to think about his constituents in front of the investors. we are dawning on scary times (politically, anyways) and need a push now to show that we know what ‘they’ are trying to do. let our voices be heard as this economic predicament becomes a catalyst for the awakening of the american public.

the senate has just passed a new version of the bill that adds some insurance incentives, but it still takes the tax payer to the cleaners. this friday the house will vote, email your rep by entering zip code on this page. the congressional server went down a few days ago after a huge, unprecedented surge of emails around this issue… so things are happening. if you enter your zip and then select an issue, you will be heard. anything is better than nothing in this case.

if we bail-out wall street, economy fails, if we don’t, economy still fails, but at least we will keep the scum who greedly brought the system down accountable in their pocketbooks. i say let the whole thing burn, but burn the shady fuckers along with it all…. lets build the system better next time. kucinich for president, or at least obama…

Have we seen this election before?

Via BBC:

The Obama v McCain race for the White House has been run before – NBC’s The West Wing pitted a charismatic, non-white Democrat against a maverick, experienced Republican.

Thanks Jon

politics as a measuring stick…

this is from a post by dr. deepak chopra on the nomination of sarah palin posted via boulder-based elephant journal:

 

“Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin’s pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.
        
She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst impulses. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of “the other.” For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don’t want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.)
        
I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin’s message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision.
        
Look at what she stands for:
        
~ Small town values — a denial of America’s global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism.
        
~ Ignorance of world affairs — a repudiation of the need to repair America’s image abroad.
        
~ Family values — a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don’t need to be heeded.
        
~ Rigid stands on guns and abortion — a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.
        
~ Patriotism — the usual fallback in a failed war.
        
~ “Reform” — an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn’t fit your ideology.
        
~ Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from “us” pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of “I’m all right, Jack,” and “Why change? Everything’s OK as it is.” The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness.
        
Obama’s call for higher ideals in politics can’t be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow — we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.”