Clean Water, Eh?

Been absent from the blog a bit... been out in the mountains talking with other state and federal water quality managers about how to make progress controlling pollution sources that are not regulated.

The talk centered around the question of securing more government authority to control diffuse sources of pollution... that is, pollution that doesn't come from a specific point... so-called "nonpoint source pollution."

My pitch was, "Hey. We have authorities we don't use for various forms of nonpoint source pollution. What makes us think that securing more authorities will be an improvement?"

I could give more specific examples, but it's my policy to separate my blogging from my professional work. But... just saying....


Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Enough Cheney Justifications on Torture

Libhom's post of a couple days ago inspired me to amplify his message, and contact the media, which I urge you to do with the handy link below. Here's the message with my revamping:

[Think "Dear Corporate Media Outlet"]

There are a lot of "the people" wondering why corporate media is taking Dick Cheney so seriously on his Torture Justification Tour.

Never mind that interrogation experts agree that torture is an ineffective means of gathering reliable intelligence and counter-productive in the way it undermines our moral high ground.

Never mind that Dick Cheney got himself put in charge of the Bush administration's terrorism task force and was so inept that he didn't hold a meeting until October 2001.

Never mind that Cheney sent our Air Force on highly distracting exercises at the same time when the Bush administration had numerous credible warnings from a variety of countries that Al Qaeda was going to stage terrorist attacks using commercial airplanes.

Sure, we understand "he was the vice president." We understand, controversy helps generate ratings, and corporate media needs to profit to survive. But, we also understand Cheney's credibility on this matter is questionable and his ulterior motives are palpable.

Cheney has had his say on torture. It's no longer news, a phrase we hear from the corporate media when explaining why historical context is often left out when nightly news headlines are broadcast.

You can stop giving Cheney a platform now.

Sincerely, GDAEman


Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media

Sources:
Art/Graphics from: Beachblogger

Top 10 Podcasts by Twitter Followers (March 2008)

Editor's warning... a bit dated, but still intersting.

According to a Brazilian going by Tvindy on Podcast Pickle, these are, or I should say were, the top 10 podcasts as measured by how many twitter followers they have... not sure that's a very good measure, and of course this is as of March 18, 2008 LOL... always gotta check the dates on all things internet.... but FWIW:

1. Leo Laporte 9400 (following 254) Tech Talk
2. Adam Curry 2895 (following 165) MTV Guy, pop culture dude.
3. Kent Nichols 2141 (following 713) Tech Guy... co-creator of AskANinja.com
4. Mignon Fogarty 1586 (following 418) Writing tips... You Go!
5. Scott Sigler 1106 (following 825) Horror writer (another writer)
6. Drew Domkus 1067 (following 161) Husband and Wife make it big podcasters!
7. J. C. Hutchins 1064 (following 1040) Thriller Novelist (3rd writer)
8. Mighty Mur 932 (following 614) Mur Lafferty, Writer taking geekdom to a new level (4th writer)
9. Evo Terra 855 (following 153) co-author of Podcasting for Dummies, Techie/writer
10. Rob Walsh 845 (following 749)

The categories for these folks, "writer," "techie," etc. is mostly a reflection of their past or noteworthy accomplishments. Now, they all seem to be exploring the various social networking media out there... in addition to their original shticks.

I could have seen Evo Terra and Mur Lafferty at Balticon, "The Maryland Regional Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention," which has turned into something of a media tech fair, given the interest in topics, like this workshop by Evo Terra:

Podiobooks: A Novel Way To Listen - Sun 5/24/09 @ 5pm
Exposing new listeners to the serialized audiobook format. You’d be surprised how many don’t know about it.

So, I write a book. Can't fit it into one podcat, or maybe I can, but if not, I spread it out over several podcasts.... kinda like my on-going series on Einstein's Relativity, which started with Episode 12 of GDAE Podcast.

Sources:

Podcast Pickle, Top 10 Podcasters on Twitter (as measured by # of followers), by Tvindy.

3304 Miles, 3304 Pictures

Wouldn't it be cool to rig up a camera to take a picture every mile you drove from NYC to San Francisco of what ever happened to be there? Matt Frondorf did it.

As for automation....

"I would count the miles,” he says. “As soon as the thirty-sixth came, I would change rolls, put the exposed roll in a canister, enter its number on a log sheet, take the next one out of the cooler, and insert it. I got to where I could do all that in less than a minute, while steering with my kneecap.”

It wasn't that rudimentary. You can read more about his set-up if you're curious.

Here's a tiny sampling of Matt's photo journey:

Mile Zero - New York City

Mile 204 - Abbotstown, PA

Mile 454 - Stuberville, WV & OH

Mile 1174 - Missouri Countryside

Mile 1504 - Abilene, KS

Mile 2402 - Cisco, UT

Mile 3304 - San Francisco, CA

Sources:

Visit the website for a cool mapped photo album or to watch an automated slide show. He's driven several other routes too. American Mile Markers project by Matt Frondorf.

GDAE Podcast - Episode 13

Episode 13 Kropotkin and Relativity II

• Czarist Prince Peter Kropotkin: On Revolutionary Moments
  
• History: The "Long Depression"
  
• History Humor
  
• Correspondence with Rachel Maddow: Torture as a Tool to Suppress Dissent (The US wouldn't do that, would it?)
• Prosecution of Bush Officials: Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility report on Authors of Torture Memos
• Einstein's Relativity: Part 2, Simultaneity and Time Dilation
• MUSIC: Sam Bush and David Grisman, Mandolin Duet on Wayfaring Stranger
  

You can take ACTION:
Urge your member ofthe House of Representatives to support impeachment hearings for judgeJay Bybee, signator of the torture memos. Write Your Rep Today.

Play GDAE Podcast Episode 13 from this page.

Previous Episodes & 60-Sec Promo:

GDAE Podcast Episode 12May 5, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 11 April 24, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 10 April 9, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 9 March 28, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 8 March 15, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 7 March 1, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 6 February 17, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 5 February 6, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 4 January 24, 2009
GDAE Podcast 60-Second Promo

A World in Which Most People Don't Have Jobs

The following is evidence that the Wall Street economic mindset still persists:

Jobs are likely to remain scarce through next year and maybe beyond that even though the overall economy seems to be picking up.

Apparently, jobs are not part of the overall economy.

Taking this mindset to its logical conclusion, we can envision a day when very few people have jobs. I presume the many people without jobs will have the resources they need to survive and even thrive. Sounds like a Utopian socialist society.

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

Associated Press, "New jobless claims drop, benefit rolls reach 6.7M," Christopher S. Rugaber, AP Economics Writer, May 21, 2009.

Fleeing War

Sources:

REUTERS/Athar Hussain, Karachi May 21, 2009.

Plan B

I went to dinner with a group of people recently and actually heard a Republican guy say that the Wall Street people... insinuating Republicans in general... deserve their riches because they are SMARTER ... smarter than ... Democrats? Never mind the fact that many Wall Street insiders are Democrats, or at least give a lot of money to Democrats.

I had to inform him that Clinton's Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Larry Summers actively campaigned along side Republicans for Wall-Street-friendly laws that resulted in the current financial melt-down... laws such as the repeal of the 1930s ear Glass-Stegall Act that separated regular commercial banks from high-flying investment banks. Glass-Stegall was put in place prevent any future melt-down of greedy speculative investment banks from spreading to the main street economy via commercial banks.... oops. These SMART people thought a key principle of economics, that the value of money had to actually be founded on something tangible, no longer applied.

Clintonistas ALSO helped pass the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, Sponsored by Senator Phil Gramm, John McCain's economics advisor. This Act allowed the Credit Debt Swaps, used by AIG's Financial Products division, to go unregulated. So, I guess this makes democratic economic policy makers Robert Rubin and Larry Summers just as SMART as the Republicans with whom they collaborated.

I have a theory about why Obama has picked Larry Summers and Tim Geithner, Wall Streeters, to lead his economic team. Obama knows he's up against the immense power of Wall Street .... So, there's a little "if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em" pragmatism going on here. Obama ALSO knows that, there's a fairly good chance no one can fix this mess, meaning these guys are going to fail... So, he gives the wall streeters a chance to fix their mess, and if the wall streeters fail, they take the blame and Obama has retained a non-wall street back-up option. That is, Obama can dump the Wall Streeters, Summers and Geithner, and bring in a new non-wall street team ... "Plan B" as it were.

The only problem with the theory is that Obama might not be given a second chance.

Sources:

Episode 10 of GDAE Podcast

Thoughts Turn to Corporate Power

I'll confess to posting without a concept in mind. I do this on rare occasion when I feel behind on my blogging and remember it IS a web log originally intended to be an on-line diary of sorts.

What's on my mind that anyone else would care about? Getting arrested in the Senate hearing chambers to further expose the elephant in the room on Health Care; Congress has literally been taken over (captured) by corporate power... the corporations have become more powerful than our legislative and executive branches.

Some folks believe the judicial branch is similarly corrupted, for instance many of the people engaging with the Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy (POCLAD). They have researched, organized and documented strong historical evidence, mostly since the US Civil War (1860s), explaining how the corporations have accumulated powerful constitutional rights that undermine human rights... literally "undermine," as in land subsidence.

In Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 U.S. 393 (1922), the US Supreme Court ruled that coal corporations must be compensated for property value lost [mineral rightst profits] due to laws protecting homes from mine subsidence. [43]

The list of Supreme Court decisions granting incremental increases in corporate power have accumulated over 100 years, amounting in what we have today. This potential state of affiars was summed up well by former US president Franklin Roosevelt.

"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Obama and Torture Photos

I'm hoping that Obama is being advised to withhold the torture photos to preserve evidence for prosecutions. E.g., a low ranking person is implicated, who has not yet been exposed publicly. The Gov't says, "Turn states evidence and we'll go lighter on you AND spare you the public humiliation."

Health Care Battle Heats Up

From the Progressive Democrats of America (edited by Godless Liberal Homo Blog):

...please don't forget to email your representative [May 14] to let them know you favor single-payer healthcare and ask them to co-sponosr HR 676. Get the details here.

...Read the the reports on the final Senate Finance Sub-committee on Healthcare hearing. Five activists were arrested, while others were outside (pictured) with PDA Advisory Board Chair Mimi Kennedy and the California Nurses Association protesting the exclusion of single-payer healthcare from the debate. Learn More.

The battle lines are drawn and we're doing our best to move single-payer healthcare forward--we appreciate your support!

If you have ever been denied coverage for healthcare you needed, you know why we need single payer healthcare to get the insurance companies and HMOs out of the business altogether.

Find and Contact the People in House and Senate Who Are Supposed to Be Representing You!

Take Action:

If you don't see your congress person on the list of cosponsors below, contact them and ask them to sign on.

• Contact the House of Representatives

Rep Abercrombie, Neil [HI-1] - 1/24/2007
Rep Baca, Joe [CA-43] - 9/17/2007
Rep Baldwin, Tammy [WI-2] - 1/24/2007
Rep Becerra, Xavier [CA-31] - 6/13/2007
Rep Berman, Howard L. [CA-28] - 6/15/2007
Rep Bishop, Sanford D., Jr. [GA-2] - 12/11/2007
Rep Brady, Robert A. [PA-1] - 2/27/2007
Rep Brown, Corrine [FL-3] - 4/17/2007
Rep Capuano, Michael E. [MA-8] - 11/9/2007
Rep Carson, Andre [IN-7] - 7/10/2008
Rep Carson, Julia [IN-7] - 1/24/2007
Rep Christensen, Donna M. [VI] - 1/24/2007
Rep Clarke, Yvette D. [NY-11] - 2/16/2007
Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy [MO-1] - 1/24/2007
Rep Cleaver, Emanuel [MO-5] - 4/22/2008
Rep Clyburn, James E. [SC-6] - 4/24/2008
Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9] - 2/7/2007
Rep Cummings, Elijah E. [MD-7] - 1/24/2007
Rep Davis, Danny K. [IL-7] - 1/24/2007
Rep Delahunt, William D. [MA-10] - 2/12/2007
Rep Doyle, Michael F. [PA-14] - 3/21/2007
Rep Edwards, Donna F. [MD-4] - 9/29/2008
Rep Ellison, Keith [MN-5] - 1/24/2007
Rep Engel, Eliot L. [NY-17] - 1/24/2007
Rep Farr, Sam [CA-17] - 1/24/2007
Rep Fattah, Chaka [PA-2] - 1/24/2007
Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51] - 1/24/2007
Rep Frank, Barney [MA-4] - 3/7/2007
Rep Green, Al [TX-9] - 1/24/2007
Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7] - 1/24/2007
Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. [IL-4] - 1/24/2007
Rep Hare, Phil [IL-17] - 4/30/2007
Rep Hastings, Alcee L. [FL-23] - 1/29/2007
Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. [NY-22] - 1/24/2007
Rep Hirono, Mazie K. [HI-2] - 7/23/2007
Rep Holt, Rush D. [NJ-12] - 9/18/2008
Rep Honda, Michael M. [CA-15] - 1/24/2007
Rep Jackson, Jesse L., Jr. [IL-2] - 1/24/2007
Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [TX-18] - 1/24/2007
Rep Jefferson, William J. [LA-2] - 6/26/2007
Rep Johnson, Eddie Bernice [TX-30] - 1/24/2007
Rep Johnson, Henry C. "Hank," Jr. [GA-4] - 2/13/2007
Rep Jones, Stephanie Tubbs [OH-11] - 5/23/2007
Rep Kaptur, Marcy [OH-9] - 2/12/2007
Rep Kennedy, Patrick J. [RI-1] - 9/24/2007
Rep Kildee, Dale E. [MI-5] - 4/17/2007
Rep Kilpatrick, Carolyn C. [MI-13] - 1/24/2007
Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. [OH-10] - 1/24/2007
Rep Lantos, Tom [CA-12] - 10/1/2007
Rep Lee, Barbara [CA-9] - 1/24/2007
Rep Lewis, John [GA-5] - 1/24/2007
Rep Loebsack, David [IA-2] - 1/24/2007
Rep Lynch, Stephen F. [MA-9] - 10/9/2007
Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] - 1/29/2007
Rep McDermott, Jim [WA-7] - 1/24/2007
Rep McGovern, James P. [MA-3] - 1/24/2007
Rep McNulty, Michael R. [NY-21] - 1/24/2007
Rep Meehan, Martin T. [MA-5] - 1/24/2007
Rep Meeks, Gregory W. [NY-6] - 9/20/2007
Rep Miller, George [CA-7] - 1/24/2007
Rep Moore, Gwen [WI-4] - 1/24/2007
Rep Moran, James P. [VA-8] - 1/22/2008
Rep Nadler, Jerrold [NY-8] - 1/29/2007
Rep Napolitano, Grace F. [CA-38] - 2/27/2007
Rep Norton, Eleanor Holmes [DC] - 3/21/2007
Rep Olver, John W. [MA-1] - 2/16/2007
Rep Pastor, Ed [AZ-4] - 1/24/2007
Rep Payne, Donald M. [NJ-10] - 1/24/2007
Rep Rangel, Charles B. [NY-15] - 1/24/2007
Rep Richardson, Laura [CA-37] - 9/20/2007
Rep Roybal-Allard, Lucille [CA-34] - 1/24/2007
Rep Rush, Bobby L. [IL-1] - 2/6/2007
Rep Ryan, Tim [OH-17] - 5/8/2007
Rep Sanchez, Linda T. [CA-39] - 4/23/2007
Rep Sanchez, Loretta [CA-47] - 9/20/2007
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9] - 4/17/2007
Rep Scott, David [GA-13] - 9/20/2007
Rep Scott, Robert C. "Bobby" [VA-3] - 1/24/2007
Rep Serrano, Jose E. [NY-16] - 2/7/2007
Rep Solis, Hilda L. [CA-32] - 2/12/2007
Rep Sutton, Betty [OH-13] - 3/27/2007
Rep Thompson, Bennie G. [MS-2] - 6/12/2007
Rep Tierney, John F. [MA-6] - 9/6/2007
Rep Towns, Edolphus [NY-10] - 1/24/2007
Rep Udall, Tom [NM-3] - 2/27/2007
Rep Waters, Maxine [CA-35] - 1/29/2007
Rep Watson, Diane E. [CA-33] - 1/24/2007
Rep Weiner, Anthony D. [NY-9] - 1/24/2007
Rep Welch, Peter [VT] - 5/3/2007
Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 1/24/2007
Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. [CA-6] - 1/24/2007
Rep Wynn, Albert Russell [MD-4] - 1/24/2007
Rep Yarmuth, John A. [KY-3] - 2/27/2007

Sources:

Progressive Democrats of America.

Godless Liberal Homo Blog.

Library of Congress, THOMAS (Up-to-date list of HR 676 cosponsors).

Good Byebee

Torture memo attorney Jay Bybee is pretty far gone on his way toward resignation or impeachment from his federal judgeship. This is reflected in the "LIBERAL" NYTimes Editors calling for Bybee's impeachment on April 18. They wrote in reference to the torture memos,

"These memos make it clear that Mr. Bybee is unfit for a job that requires legal judgment and a respect for the Constitution."

I think it's over for him..... Good Byeee Bee.

What's Good for Israel is Good for Sri Lanka

Sound familiar?

The [hospital] attack came after a weekend of heavy shelling that killed hundreds of civilians trapped in the war zone. The [Sri Lankan] military has denied accusations that it was still shelling the tiny coastal strip under rebel control, which is packed with an estimated 50,000 civilians.

Except in Israel's case the tiny coastal strip (Gaza) had over 1 million civilians and more than just one hospital.

Sound familiar?

Reports of the fighting are difficult to verify because the government bars journalists and aid workers from the war zone.

Sound Familiar?

Rebel spokesman Seevaratnam Puleedevan blamed the attack on the government, and said civilians were fleeing in all directions inside the tiny war zone, seeking safety.

"There's no place to seek shelter or protect themselves," he said.

Meanwhile, the international community stands by watching, allowing these war crimes, and US torture, to proceed with impunity. Sound familiar?

Of course, the Tamil Tigers aren't innocent themselves.... there's always a grain of truth to "justify" government excesses.

Sources:

Associated Press, Doctor says 49 killed in Sri Lanka hospital attack, May 12, 2009.

Pentagon Pundits: Urge the FCC to Investigate

It's time to put some heat on TV outlets like CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox, NBC, CBS and ABC for their role in the Pentagon propaganda process leading up to and during the Iraq war. The media outlets misrepresented the objectivity of retired military personnel by presenting them in news reports when in reality they often functioned as a propaganda arm of the Pentagon. Many also had business conflicts of interests in the military industry.

MORE: Who are the Pentagon Pundits?

Now, after New York Times reporter David Barstow has received the 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning for reporting on the Pentagon propaganda campaign, the same television outlets have been silent on the subject.

AMY GOODMAN: I think what’s so interesting about this story is not only what the Pentagon has done; it’s the lack of reporting on this by the networks.... How many times have you been invited on the networks—you just won the Pulitzer Prize for this investigation—to explain this story of the networks’ use of these pundits?

DAVID BARSTOW: You know, to be honest with you, I haven’t received many invitations—in fact, any invitations—to appear on any of the main network or cable programs.

These media outlets have licenses governed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Their licenses are based on a public trust and can be revoked by violating that public trust. It's time to remind them of that trust.

Psssst... Do Something

Contact the FCC Commissioners. Ask them to investigate these media outlets for 1) the TV media's misrepresentation of retired military personnel's objectivity, and 2) the TV media's failure to cover the 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting on the Pentagon propaganda campaign. Ask them to place your complaint and their findings in the file for future consideration during the future relicensing of these media outlets.

Send a copy of your correspondence to the media outlets. Contact information is provided below.

Michael J. Copps: Michael.Copps@fcc.gov
Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein: Jonathan.Adelstein@fcc.gov
Commissioner Robert McDowell: Robert.McDowell@fcc.gov

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  

Copy: CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox, NBC, CBS and ABC

Sources:

Democracy Now, "Pentagon Pundits: New York Times Reporter David Barstow Wins Pulitzer Prize for Exposing Military’s Pro-War Propaganda Media Campaign," May 8, 2009.

Bad Bank - This American Life

If you get a chance... and it took me a while... check out This American Life's take on the Bad Banks... (Feb 27, 2009). Very well done, and that recommendation comes from a cynic.

Psssst... Do Something

Share this url with your friends: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1285

Sources:

This American Life (NPR), February 27, 2009.

Well Fargo Defies Gravity

How can Wells Fargo turn a profit last quarter and get a stress test result saying it still needs to be capitalized?


Don't let anyone argue that it IS possible because of some mumbo jumbo accounting "complexities" that YOU don't understand. If they made a profit they don't need any US tax payer money, period... unless that profit goes directly to paying off its bailout obligations the the US tax payer.

Update: Wells Fargo is one of the top five banks that need a tax payer subsidy ($13.7 Billion). MORE

• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

GDAE Podcast - Episode 12

Media Reform and Relativity I

• Progressive Podcast Network adds GDAE Podcast.
• Media Reform... and Alternatives:
  • Reflections on the failing main stream media with John Nichols
  • Media Bailout Proposal by John Nichols and Robert McChesney
  • Saving the Newspapers: A proposal by US Senator Ben Cardin (D, MD)
  • Alternative Media: Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films
• MUSIC: Bela Fleck and Chick Corea 'round 2
• Einstien's Relativity: Part 1, Special Relativity Kinematics (Motion): Speed x Time = Distance
  
  You can take ACTION: AskDOJ@USDOJ.gov Urge Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate Bush administration lawyers for torture.

Play GDAE Podcast Episode 12 from this page.

Previous Episodes & 60-Sec Promo:

GDAE Podcast Episode 11 April 24, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 10 April 9, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 9 March 28, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 8 March 15, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 7 March 1, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 6 February 17, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 5 February 6, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 4 January 24, 2009
GDAE Podcast 60-Second Promo

Close the Tax Havens

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

Breaking Wave Graffiti