from nan. . .

The little diddy at the end is words from angryhippy; however, they are the same straight from my mouth, and the majority of any well educated human who actually understand economics and the "money". Peace, Nan


On Energy and Environmental Policy, Key Legislation Is in Limbo
September 30, 2008 at 8:46AM by Dan Shapley

All eyes are on the House of Representatives, which failed to pass a broadly unpopular but arguably necessary bailout of the U.S. financial sector. The consequences in the U.S. market began to be felt immediately, though in a hopeful sign, Asian and European markets didn't tank over night.

The House leaders, the President and the candidates have all been roundly condemned for failing to exercise enough leadership to approve the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, without which -- the argument goes -- global capital will continue to seize up, starving economic activity for years as banks continue to fail.

Meanwhile, the House and Senate have been quietly failing to renew tax credits necessary for solar and wind energy research and development. Both houses passed an extension of the tax credits, which are demonstrably necessary for the growth and development of these industries. And the growth of these industries is demonstrably necessary for the twin goals of energy independence and global warming abatement.

And yet, as the New York Times put it: "The House and the Senate conceded Monday that they were in a stalemate over proposals to provide tax incentives for the production and use of renewable energy, leaving the future of the nascent industry in limbo. "

This comes after Congress failed to agree to a compromise on offshore drilling that might have restricted access to near-shore areas, added additional environmental protections, or funneled royalties to renewable energy development. Instead, Congress just let its ban on offshore drilling lapse.

It comes as Congress appears to have let an Oct. 1 ban on oil shale development expire. This highly polluting method for extracting oil from stone is 180-degrees from the renewable energy investments virtually every long term strategist agrees we need -- for not only environmental reasons, but economic and national security reasons as well.

And it comes as news breaks that Congress is poised to strip $331 million in conservation spending from its bloated farm bill, removing one positive part of a flawed bill that will continue to amp up the overproduction of corn, with all its attendant pollution.

The importance of the renewable tax credits can't be overstated. Without these tax credits, investors won't bet on the new industries -- which need the credits to be cost-competitive with heavily-subsidized fossil fuels. The future of America, as an increasing number of thinkers agree, rests on revamping the U.S. economy to lead the world in renewable energy technology. That would free us from foreign oil, create millions of domestic jobs and new high-tech export industries and solve the global warming crisis to boot. It's a smart investment at a time when oil supplies are dwindling, fossil fuels are increasingly costing as much in dollars as they always have in environmental quality and the U.S. economy clearly needs to rely on a core of innovation in technology, not innovation in shadowy financial securities.

Ah, investment. Yes, without a fix for Wall Street's bad bets on bad mortgages, investors will be unwilling or unable to back a variety of economic activity, including new investments in renewable energy.

Congressional leaders, the President and the candidates have all said that lawmakers have to return to the table and craft some sort of bailout that is both effective and palatable -- one that, presumably, helps struggling homeowners more, costs taxpayers less and punishes those firms that enriched themselves by kicking the legs out from under the American economy.

Source

Gosh, golly gee! Who would have thought they still don't give a shit about what's really important, even as they shout out their warnings of impending doom, while at the same time top economists are saying we don't need to bail out wall street to fix this. It may still cost hundreds of billions of dollars, but it needs to be going to prop up the American people who are the ones really hurting, and not a few bankers who got caught eating at the trough of monetary gluttony and Bush's corporate welfare policies. Fuck them. Let them go down with the ship. Then when they are at the brink of absolute financial devastation, throw their crooked asses in jail. Lets use the $700Billion to rebuild this country, not save a few banks from themselves. IMO

more from moore

Friends,
Everyone said the bill would pass. The masters of the universe were already making celebratory dinner reservations at Manhattan's finest restaurants. Personal shoppers in Dallas and Atlanta were dispatched to do the early Christmas gifting. Mad Men of Chicago and Miami were popping corks and toasting each other long before the morning latte run.
But what they didn't know was that hundreds of thousands of Americans woke up yesterday morning and decided it was time for revolt. The politicians never saw it coming. Millions of phone calls and emails hit Congress so hard it was as if Marshall Dillon, Elliot Ness and Dog the Bounty Hunter had descended on D.C. to stop the looting and arrest the thieves.
The Corporate Crime of the Century was halted by a vote of 228 to 205. It was rare and historic; no one could remember a time when a bill supported by the president and the leadership of both parties went down in defeat. That just never happens.
A lot of people are wondering why the right wing of the Republican Party joined with the left wing of the Democratic Party in voting down the thievery. Forty percent of Democrats and two-thirds of Republicans voted against the bill.
Here's what happened:
The presidential race may still be close in the polls, but the Congressional races are pointing toward a landslide for the Democrats. Few dispute the prediction that the Republicans are in for a whoopin' on November 4th. Up to 30 Republican House seats could be lost in what would be a stunning repudiation of their agenda.
The Republican reps are so scared of losing their seats, when this "financial crisis" reared its head two weeks ago, they realized they had just been handed their one and only chance to separate themselves from Bush before the election, while doing something that would make them look like they were on the side of "the people."
Watching C-Span yesterday morning was one of the best comedy shows I'd seen in ages. There they were, one Republican after another who had backed the war and sunk the country into record debt, who had voted to kill every regulation that would have kept Wall Street in check -- there they were, now crying foul and standing up for the little guy! One after another, they stood at the microphone on the House floor and threw Bush under the bus, under the train (even though they had voted to kill off our nation's trains, too), heck, they would've thrown him under the rising waters of the Lower Ninth Ward if they could've conjured up another hurricane. You know how your dog acts when sprayed by a skunk? He howls and runs around trying to shake it off, rubbing and rolling himself on every piece of your carpet, trying to get rid of the stench. That's what it looked like on the Republican side of the aisle yesterday, and it was a sight to behold.
The 95 brave Dems who broke with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd were the real heroes, just like those few who stood up and voted against the war in October of 2002. Watch the remarks from yesterday of Reps. Marcy Kaptur, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Dennis Kucinich. They spoke the truth.
The Dems who voted for the giveaway did so mostly because they were scared by the threats of Wall Street, that if the rich didn't get their handout, the market would go nuts and then it's bye-bye stock-based pension and retirement funds.
And guess what? That's exactly what Wall Street did! The largest, single-day drop in the Dow in the history of the New York Stock exchange. The news anchors last night screamed it out: Americans just lost 1.2 trillion dollars in the stock market!! It's a financial Pearl Harbor! The sky is falling! Bird flu! Killer Bees!
Of course, sane people know that nobody "lost" anything yesterday, that stocks go up and down and this too shall pass because the rich will now buy low, hold, then sell off, then buy low again.
But for now, Wall Street and its propaganda arm (the networks and media it owns) will continue to try and scare the bejesus out of you. It will be harder to get a loan. Some people will lose their jobs. A weak nation of wimps won't last long under this torture. Or will we? Is this our line in the sand?
Here's my guess: The Democratic leadership in the House secretly hoped all along that this lousy bill would go down. With Bush's proposals shredded, the Dems knew they could then write their own bill that favors the average American, not the upper 10% who were hoping for another kegger of gold.
So the ball is in the Democrats' hands. The gun from Wall Street remains at their head. Before they make their next move, let me tell you what the media kept silent about while this bill was being debated:
1. The bailout bill had NO enforcement provisions for the so-called oversight group that was going to monitor Wall Street's spending of the $700 billion;
2. It had NO penalties, fines or imprisonment for any executive who might steal any of the people's money;
3. It did NOTHING to force banks and lenders to rewrite people's mortgages to avoid foreclosures -- this bill would not have stopped ONE foreclosure!;
4. It had NO teeth anywhere in the entire piece of legislation, using words like "suggested" when referring to the government being paid back for the bailout;
5. Over 200 economists wrote to Congress and said this bill might actually WORSEN the "financial crisis" and cause even MORE of a meltdown.
Put a fork in this slab of pork. It's over. Now it is time for our side to state very clearly the laws WE want passed. I will send you my proposals later today. We've bought ourselves less than 72 hours.
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

my thoughts

who said this:

Today, humanity passionately craves commitment to the Truth, devotion to God, quest for Justice and respect for the dignity of human beings. Rejection of domination and aggression, defense of the oppressed, and longing for peace constitute the legitimate demand of the peoples of the world, particularly the new generations and the spirited youth, who aspire a world free from decadence, aggression and injustice, and replete with love and compassion. The youth have a right to seek justice and the Truth; and they have a right to build their own future on the foundations of love, compassion and tranquility. And, I praise the Almighty for this immense blessing.

What afflicts humanity today is certainly not compatible with human dignity; the Almighty has not created human beings so that they could transgress against others and oppress them.

By causing war and conflict, some are fast expanding their domination, accumulating greater wealth and usurping all the resources, while others endure the resulting poverty, suffering and misery.

Some seek to rule the world relying on weapons and threats, while others live in perpetual insecurity and danger.

Some occupy the homeland of others, thousands of kilometers away from their borders, interfere in their affairs and control their oil and other resources and strategic routes, while others are bombarded daily in their own homes; their children murdered in the streets and alleys of their own country and their homes reduced to rubble.

Such behavior is not worthy of human beings and runs counter to the Truth, to justice and to human dignity. The fundamental question is that under such conditions, where should the oppressed seek justice? Who, or what organization defends the rights of the oppressed, and suppresses acts of aggression and oppression? Where is the seat of global justice?

Some powers proudly announce their production of second and third generations of nuclear weapons. What do they need these weapons for? Is the development and stockpiling of these deadly weapons designed to promote peace and democracy? Or, are these weapons, in fact, instruments of coercion and threat against other peoples and governments? How long should the people of the world live with the nightmare of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons? What bounds the powers producing and possessing these weapons? How can they be held accountable before the international community? And, are the inhabitants of these countries content with the waste of their wealth and resources for the production of such destructive arsenals? Is it not possible to rely on justice, ethics and wisdom instead of these instruments of death? Aren't wisdom and justice more compatible with peace and tranquility than nuclear, chemical and biological weapons? If wisdom, ethics and justice prevail, then oppression and aggression will be uprooted, threats will wither away and no reason will remain for conflict. This is a solid proposition because most global conflicts emanate from injustice, and from the powerful, not being contented with their own rights, striving to devour the rights of others.

are these crazy ramblings? or do you think they ring true?
does it seem filled with hate?

i do not think so. these are excerpts from Ahmadinejad's U.N. Speech on sept. 19th. The US and Israel didn't even stay to listen to him speak. He called the US occupiers, which many US citizens think we are. i don't see in this transcript where he called Israel zionists but doing research on the history of Israel there was a zionist revolution in Israel.  i just don't understand how you can disregard the context of his speech and views.  

This is what he said about Palestine:
The roots of the Palestinian problem go back to the Second World War. Under the pretext of protecting some of the survivors of that War, the land of Palestine was occupied through war, aggression and the displacement of millions of its inhabitants; it was placed under the control of some of the War survivors, bringing even larger population groups from elsewhere in the world, who had not been even affected by the Second World War; and a government was established in the territory of others with a population collected from across the world at the expense of driving millions of the rightful inhabitants of the land into a diaspora and homelessness. This is a great tragedy with hardly a precedent in history. Refugees continue to live in temporary refugee camps, and many have died still hoping to one day return to their land. Can any logic, law or legal reasoning justify this tragedy? Can any member of the United Nations accept such a tragedy occurring in their own homeland?

Is this not true?  The people of Palestine have no rights.  He is calling for equal right to vote.  I understand god's chosen people have been given this land but what about the Palestinians?  They lived there for centuries too and now live without rights.

And in regards to their nuclear program I find it hard to believe that it's unthinkable they could just be trying to use it for energy.  We are, our government is touting the need for nuclear power.  He said, "All our nuclear activities are transparent, peaceful and under the watchful eyes of IAEA inspectors. Why then are there objections to our legally recognized rights?"

he closes:
Resolution of contemporary human crises lies in observing ethics and spirituality and the governance of righteous people of high competence and piety.

Should respect for the rights of human beings become the predominant objective, then injustice, ill-temperament, aggression and war will fade away.

Human beings are all God's creatures and are all endowed with dignity and respect.

No one has superiority over others. No individual or states can arrogate to themselves special privileges, nor can they disregard the rights of others and, through influence and pressure, position themselves as the "international community".

Citizens of Asia, Africa, Europe and America are all equal. Over 6 billion inhabitants of the earth are all equal and worthy of respect. Justice and protection of human dignity are the two pillars in maintaining sustainable peace, security and tranquility in the world.

It is for this reason that we state:

Sustainable peace and tranquility in the world can only be attained through justice, spirituality, ethics, compassion and respect for human dignity.

All nations and states are entitled to peace, progress and security.

We are all members of the international community and we are all entitled to insist on the creation of a climate of compassion, love and justice.

All members of the United Nations are affected by both the bitter and the sweet events and developments in today's world.

We can adopt firm and logical decisions, thereby improving the prospects of a better life for current and future generations.

Together, we can eradicate the roots of bitter maladies and afflictions, and instead, through the promotion of universal and lasting values such as ethics, spirituality and justice, allow our nations to taste the sweetness of a better future.

Peoples, driven by their divine nature, intrinsically seek Good, Virtue, Perfection and Beauty. Relying on our peoples, we can take giant steps towards reform and pave the road for human perfection. Whether we like it or not, justice, peace and virtue will sooner or later prevail in the world with the will of Almighty God. It is imperative, and also desirable, that we too contribute to the promotion of justice and virtue.

am i crazy or is this talking about hope and peace?

iranians are people too:

this is from a while ago but we watched it in my art history class.

also as i understand it, years ago he didn't say Israel should be wiped off the map he said the Israel of today won't be the same forever, and it was a quote from an ayatollah, and that it was interpreted wrong by the New York Times.

fer funny

open secrets

great web site nan, thanks!

congress people who voted in favor of the bail out have received 50% more campaign contributions from these finance companies than those who didn't.  hmmm. . . . 

gets fishier all the time.

the bill

the bill

who voted how

Economist Leads Push Against The Bailout

another good listen on planet money.