Tuesday, 22 of May of 2012
In a time of the spring, old paths are obscured and new growth begins.
The following voice, urging a pullout from Afghanistan next year, came from the U.S. Congress this week: “We’re wearing out our military. Madam Speaker, I hope the President will keep his word and have a timetable to get our troops out of Afghanistan.”
The voice was that of Walter Jones, a North Carolina Republican.
(3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)
Loading ...Just a few minutes ago, the House of Representatives debated H. Res. 1446, a resolution praising the community of Tracy, California, for existing as a city for 100 years. Forty minutes of debate was ordered at 12:17, but debate ended at 12:22, 90 percent of the time for debate left unfilled.
Who in Congress could fail to have an opinion on such very, extremely important legislation? Why, if that resolution isn’t passed, just think of what that will mean for the city of Tracy! It’s not like one of those superficial issues, like the war in Afghanistan, climate change, or the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, after all.
Priorities!
(3 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5) Loading ...In a hearing of the House Science and Technology Subcommittee on Energy and Environment yesterday, Chairman Brian Baird declared that, “Whether the moratorium on drilling activities in the Gulf is lifted in 30 days or 30 years, we must accept that the hydrocarbon reserves in these fields will be produced someday.”
Why? Why must we accept that offshore drilling for oil in the riskiest deepwater environments is going to take place?
Don’t we have the freedom to choose another course? Is our government that much in the thrall of the oil industry that our leaders will accept no possibility of an end to deepwater offshore drilling?
(3 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5) Loading ...The United Nations World Drug Report is out, and it carries bad news for the organic movement. According to the BBC, “Drug use is moving away from cocaine and opiates and towards synthetic drugs such as amphetamines.”
Synthetics. Don’t people know that’s bad for them? They could go for something more natural, like organic heroin.
(2 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5) Loading ...Yesterday, on the floor of the House of Representatives, Congressman Ted Poe said, “The Federal Government needs to get out of the way and let us continue safely to drill offshore and provide the energy needs of this country.”
Continue to drill offshore safely? How can something be continued if it hasn’t started yet?
Doesn’t Ted Poe get it? Offshore drilling has been proven to be deadly dangerous. It’s killed people. It’s killed one of America’s natural treasures. It’s killing the American economy.
Sorry, Representative Poe, but no, the government does not need to get out of the way of offshore drilling. The government needs to end offshore drilling.
(2 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5) Loading ...Today, Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert blurted out the following statement about health care reform: “If you make 133 percent of the poverty level or less, under that wonderful bill, you’ll get forced into Medicaid, like it or not, even if you’ve got an employer who is willing to provide you health care. Oh, by the way, if you’re above 133 percent of the poverty level and you can’t afford the great health insurance policy that is dictated by this Zeus of a Congress and President, then bad news.”
A Zeus of a Congress? What is a Zeus of a Congress?
Is a Sergeant-At-Arms armed with a lightning bolt?
(2 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5) Loading ...It may be the clash of the Titans – or little critters living on Titan, anyway. Titan is a moon on Saturn that’s so cold it has seas of liquid methane. A recent chemical analysis of the chemical composition of Titan’s atmosphere is consistent with, though not proof of, methane-based life on the the little world.
Far out. ET may be very smelly.
(2 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5) Loading ...They say the eyes don’t lie. Look at the live feed of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and it sure looks like there’s just as much oil gushing out of the busted offshore drilling site as there was before BP installed its “top hat”.
New York Times reports, “At least one expert, Ira Leifer, who is part of a government team charged with estimating the flow rate, is convinced that the operation has made the leak worse, perhaps far worse than the 20 percent increase that government officials warned might occur when the riser was cut.”
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5) Loading ...I am endorsing Marcy Winograd in her race to represent California’s 36th District in Congress. She is a true progressive who will stand up to the military industrial complex, the medical industrial complex, and other corporate interests in Washington. Marcy is genuine in her concern for the people.
Marcy particularly understands the damage war profiteers and others who want to keep the war economy do to our country. As my friend Dan Ellsberg said in an earlier endorsement of Marcy, she was personally involved in the release of the Pentagon Papers. When I released the Pentagon Papers into the Senate record, I directly challenged the warmongers who benefit from the killing. Marcy Winograd would bring that spirit to the House. She can stand up against powerful special interests and for the poor, the veterans, the civilians, and others that war hurts.
Marcy Winograd represents the best the Democratic Party has to offer. Her opponent Jane Harman is just another Washington hawk disconnected from the real consequences of her Congressional votes. In 2007, during the Democratic presidential debates, I said that someone who made the political decision of voting to approve the Iraq War was not qualified to be President. I can comfortably extend that sentiment to the House of Representatives, and Harman did vote for the Iraq War. Keeping Harman in office strengthens war profiteers like Halliburton, General Electric, and others in their unhealthy quest for power.
Therefore, I urge the voters of California’s 36th district to cast their vote, and volunteer, for Democrat Marcy Winograd in tomorrow’s primary. If you do not live in California, a donation is still a worthwhile investment.
Mike Gravel, US Senate 1969-1981
Date: June 7, 2010
Categories: democrats, election 2010, history, politics, war and peace
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...They call it progress. BP is capturing four times the amount of oil that it had claimed was actually leaking from the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling site, and still, huge amounts of oil are gushing out of the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, evading the best technological solution it has, a solution that took a month and a half to put into place.
Look at this, here, a photograph of the water next to the site where BP’s cap is in place. That’s from just a minute or two ago, and as you can see, the water is still a disgusting brown, filled with massive amounts of petroleum escaping into Gulf waters.
They’re saying we should feel good about this, but the way I see it, it’s same kind of progress as a skydiver with a malfunctioning parachute finding that he can reduce the speed of his fall a little bit by sticking out his arms.
No, BP, it’s not good enough.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...
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