only that i'm a rural dweller, we must have a vehicle as there is no mass transit here. but we do pay very close attention to our trips to town (10+ miles) & city(40+ miles) and do as much as possible each trip. i would guess we actually use less gas living rurally than most city/urban dwellers.
we've got to start thinking differently as a nation.
become more citizens of the planet than american consumers
imo anyway.
... which set me thinking about the difference between One-Size-Fits-All solutions like Auto-Uber-Alles and A-Fit-For-Each-Size solutions. One size fits all makes is seem as if "that does not do this" is a massive obstacle ... when under A Fit for Each Size, it is a challenge to find the means of accomplishing that task.
Burning the Midnight Oil for Living Energy Independence
This week in The New Republic, Richard Florida presented his vision of High Speed Rail as the central strategic point of leverage in an economic "reset" to get us out of the doldrums resulting from the failure of the 20th century growth model to deliver ongoing, sustained growth any more ... though the way he frame it is:
As dismal as housing prices continue to be, they have yet to hit bottom in some places. Unemployment remains frozen at an overall level of nine-plus percent, and job creation has been anemic. If the crisis belonged to George W. Bush, the recovery has been Obama's-and it has been a fragile and tentative one at best. Along with billions of dollars in stimulus payments, the president has spent down most of his political capital. So what is his next step?
Republicans across the country are bearing down, hoping that voting against any Democratic proposal will get them back in power this fall to complete their destruction of our country next year. They are running on a platform of hatred for the federal government and while they preach "jobs" they care nothing about saving or creating them if Democrats get credit. They hope to break any power of the federal government and leave all the responsibility on cash-strapped states. Yes, even when the benefits of federal funding come home to their states they still vote no.
All over the country a not-so-funny thing is happening. You see, the right-wing cannot run on their vision for this country because quite frankly that vision crashed this country into a ditch. So, instead of running on their vision or lack thereof they are stuck having to lie through their teeth to America about what Democrats have done, and what they seek to do. Two of their favorite "lying points" are the expiring Bush tax cuts and the stimulus act which although not enough, did save millions of jobs. Of course, the stooges on the right cannot let you know that.
Burning the Midnight Oil for Living Energy Independence
... or Virginia or Illinois or upstate New York or North Carolina or Washington and Oregon or ...
... well, any other state except Ohio. Outsourcing Ohio's HSR jobs to other states is a central plank of John Kasich's run to become Governor of Ohio.
Of course, we don't expect people from places like Lehman Brothers to flat out say something like that: instead, they give a plausible sounding sound bite which then falls apart the minute you think about it. Their hope, it seems, is that nobody thinks about it.
So too with Kasich's plan to hand Ohio's $400m in HSR Stimulus Funds back to the Federal Government for another state to use ... he hides his plan behind a red herring.
If you've got any friends or relations with a stake in the Ohio labor market, you got to let them know where Kasich really stands on jobs.
What do you do when you are the "Architect" of the near destruction of the American economy?? What do you do when you were central to an administration that divided and nearly destroyed your country?? Well, in the case of "Turd Blossom" Karl Rove you do not put your head in the sand and hide as any self-respecting person would do but you go on TV and lie through your teeth and try to convince the American people that someone else is to blame for the problems you savaged upon your country. Yes, the "Turd Blossom" is back and as always he is sprouting a bunch of crap.
While the rich get richer more and more regular folks are using food stamps, 40.2 million to be exact. 22% of America's children live below the poverty rate.
USA Today The rate of children living in poverty this year will climb to nearly 22%, the highest rate in two decades, according to an analysis by the non-profit Foundation for Child Development. Nearly 17% of children were living in poverty in 2006, before the recession began.
Click here to read the entire Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Report. Click here to go to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Web-Site. I suggest if you like the current trend, then vote for Rand Paul because he believes your income needs to fall even further.
(Welcome aboard, thanks for the post. - promoted by Hillbilly)
“Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back.” Harvey Mackay
As I live out the events of this - what I believe to be the worst economic meltdown in American history - I can't help but believe that our perception of time is one of the fundamental problems that led us to where we are.
"You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack You may find yourself in another part of the world You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile You may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife You may ask yourself: well... how did I get here?" David Byrne
While we've all been busy watching the "oil spill live cam", a similar uncontrolled discharge has been taking place in Washington, DC
In this case, however, it's lobbyists that are spilling all over the landscape as the House and Senate attempt to merge their two visions of financial reform.
They're trying desperately to influence the outcome of the conference in which House and Senate negotiators have been engaged; this to craft the exact language of the reconciled legislation.
There's an additional element of drama hovering over the events as eight House members, including one of the most vocal of the Republican negotiators, face ethics questions related to this very bill.
The best part: if you're enough of a political geek, you can actually watch the events unfold, unedited and unfiltered, from the comfort of your very own computer.
So far, it's been amazing political theater, and if you follow along I'll tell you how you can get in on the fun, too.
It's part two of our "Netroots Nation Goes To Vegas Piano Bar Extravaganza", and in keeping with tradition that means we are again taking a story request.
This time we won't be talking about energy security or "climate security"; instead, we'll discuss retirement security, keeping your money for yourself instead of paying it out in "mystery fees", and how one of the "usual suspects" is at it again.
Besides the millions of gallons of crude leaking into the Gulf of Mexico the continued deregulation of industry in general and in particular the oil and gas industry has caused much death and misery. The continued quest of profits over people has determined that to pinch pennies some workers are just plain expendable to fatcat Corporate CEOs. Along with lower wages, shrinking benefits and an uncaring attitude by management this has been a big part of the war on the American worker waged relentlessly by Corporate America with their enablers in both political parties. However, thankfully the sorry record these folks have compiled as they basically regulate themselves has not amused everyone in Washington. Today Patty Murray (D-WA) blasted the industry on the sorry record they have compiled.
Burning the Midnight Oil for Living Energy Independence
OK, the story so far:
"BP", which seems to stand for "Blatant Phonies", lies about being able to fix a problem it lies about being almost certain not to happen and due to entirely predictable criminal negligence catastrophe strikes
... because we in the US are addicted to crude oil, the "Texas Tea" that finances the Texas Tea Parties
... and if we cut our petroleum addiction by 5% each year, in 20 years we'll be off the stuff.
Transport needs about 7 5% solutions per decade over the next two decades. With the White House policy as one, Steel Interstates, Nationwide Oil-Free Liberty Transport networks, 5% of trips by Active Transport, and doubling the fuel efficiency of cars carrying 10% of passengers, that's 5 of the 7.
But of course, five 1% solutions make a 5% solution too. So I am looking for 10 "1% solutions". Heck, if we have enough of them, we can get 10% over the next two decades from 1% solutions even if they are not all 1%.
With the economy booming for most of the Clinton years (The 90's) and technological advances soaring, the amount of electronic waste (e-waste) has also skyrocketed. Between video game consoles, cell phones, Coputers, TVs and more our landfills have quickly become cluttered with e-waste and it is a growing catastrophe.
It is no secret that Republicans and even some Democrats have been waging war on our middle-class and our unions for quite some time. As a result we have seen wages stagnate, workers lose rights, and Corporate America run amok with rampant greed while pocketing huge profits, crashing the economy and being bailed out. This is no accident. All of these things have occurred within the war on the middle-class and all of these things have happened as a direct result of the breakdown of our unions and the loss of wages and rights which has taken place as a direct result.
Democrats should realize that although a healthcare bill was passed most of us thought that it accounted to little more than Corporate Welfare. To see that, one need only look at the stocks of the drug and healthcare companies. While the healthcare bill may be a baby step in the right direction for working America, much needs to still be done and this time a fight will be required to enact Progressive change for working Americans.
Some of the most frustrated folks in America right now are the leaders of America's labor movement. They have good reason to be, as an all-out war has been waged basically by both parties upon them in the last several decades. After the last election, when they used so much energy and support working Americans won the White House and a huge majority in both chambers of Congress they had really hoped that the plight of working Americans would be addressed through healthcare, wages, an end to outsourcing and the Employee Free Choice Act.
Working America According to Reuters,
attempts by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to move an
emergency unemployment aid extension in the Senate are being thwarted: Reid
had hoped to quickly pass a short-term extension of unemployment
benefits for more than a million people to ensure they are not
terminated at the end of February, but Republican Senator Jim Bunning
blocked it.
Policy advocates on Capitol Hill this morning confirmed that Sen. Bunning (R-KY)
is currently holding up an emergency measure to extend the expanded
federal support for unemployment insurance and COBRA subsidies set to
expire in three days.
A spokesman for Senator Bunning said this
morning that Bunning had objected to Senator Reid's unanimous consent
request to proceed on the measure, citing a dispute over how it should
be funded.
Kentucky's jobless rate, which exceeds the national average, increased to 10.7%
in December, the last month of available state statistics. Numerous
counties in Kentucky report unemployment rates of 13% or more, as can
be seen on this Washington Postinteractive map of unemployment rates by state and county. (click on the map to zoom in) Several counties in rural eastern Kentucky have jobless rates of 15% or higher, including Magoffin County at 21.4%. Read More
In the firefly-dreaming edition of last week's 
This week in The New Republic, Richard Florida 
... or Virginia or Illinois or upstate New York or North Carolina or Washington and Oregon or ...
OK, the story so far: 
Transport needs about 7 5% solutions per decade over the next two decades. With the White House policy as one, Steel Interstates, Nationwide Oil-Free Liberty Transport networks, 5% of trips by Active Transport, and doubling the fuel efficiency of cars carrying 10% of passengers, that's 5 of the 7.
