Desiring Machine

This video pretty much showcases all that is wrong with America.

Hillary should purchase a 9 minute block of time and run this as an ad during American Idol.

I know it will never happen, but just once I want to see Hillary Clinton play Eminem’s “Business” at one of her rally’s just to get these lines put out there:

Quick gotta move fast, gotta perform miracles
Gee willikers Dre, holy bat syllables
Look at all the bullshit that goes on in Gotham
When I’m gone time to get rid of these rap criminals
So, skip to ya lou, while I do what I do best
You ain’t even impressed no more, you used to it
Flows too wet, nobody close to it
Nobody says it was till everyone knows the shit
The most hated on outta all those who say they get hated
On eighties songs
Exaggerate it all so much
They make it all up

If applied to the Clintons and their treatment by the media, truer words have never been spoken. And the more they hate on her the more and more I think she is right for the presidency.

And now for a little transmission from Gotham.

Every so often someone comes along and just spits the truth and it is beautiful.

They gotta war for oil, a war for gold
A war for money and a war for souls
A war on terror, a war on drugs
A war on kindness and a war on hugs
A war on birds and a war on bees
They gotta a war on hippies tryin’ save the trees
A war with jets and a war with missiles
A war with high seated, government official
Wall street war, on high finance
A war on people who just love to dance
A war on music, a war on speech
A war on teachers and the things they teach
A war for the last 500 years
War’s just messin’ up the atmosphere
A war on Muslims, a war on Jews
A war on Christians and Hindus
A whole lotta people just sayin’ kill them all
They gotta a war on Mumia Abu Jamal
The war on pot, is a war that’s failed
A war that’s fillin’ up the nations jails
World war one, two, three and four
Chemical weapons, biological war
Bush war 1, Bush war 2
They gotta a war for me, they gotta a war for you!

~Michael Franti “We Don’t Stop”

I would be the last to defend Paul Begala and James Carville, just on grounds of taste. But they have been pushed off of CNN until after the democratic primary due to complaints from the Obama campaign. In this brave new world of equal time are we willing to suggest that Harpo productions should close shop for the next few months? If I was to really stand here and suggest that Oprah should remain off the air because of her endorsement of Obama people would laugh. And I would gladly except the criticism that my suggestion was borderline fascist. Come on Obama if being an agent of change means repressing individuals freedom of speech, press, and assembly then I am not sure I like the change that you are peddling.

And just a little disclosure. CNN sucks, every time I watch that network I cringe, but that doesn’t mean that I think candidates should have a say on who should or shouldn’t be on the airwaves. If there are true conflicts of interest let the FCC and the FEC take that up. That is what those agencies are for.

I guess I just didn’t know there was a fried squirrel eating demographic. God bless regional differences.

As a side note I guess it is not the eating squirrel part that confounds me. Many people eat many different things all over the world. But the fact that it was prepared with an air pop popcorn maker, that’s downright creepy.

Bush is suppose to leave office on this date but what if he doesn’t? Video raises some interesting questions.

First a little disclosure. I am personally invested in a handful of solar technology stocks, some American and some Chinese so what I say comes from both a self interested capitalist point of view and an environmentalist point of view.

The house recently passed an intriguing energy bill. And the bill currently remains tied up in the Senate and president Bush has threatened to veto it. All strong indicators that actual progress is being made on the energy front. Two intriguing aspects of the bill are the increased fuel standards supported by everybody but Detroit, and the equally feel good measure of repealing 13 billion dollars of Big oil tax credits to fund the fledgling alternative energy industry. Both very positive developments. I am big on the potential for solar tech and am a firm believer that where there is political will there is a way. This country has opted to spend trillions on Nuclear and other industries in the past. We spend even a 10th of that on alternative energy we are likely to see a vibrant, sustainable and prosperous future. Shifting the priorities away from oil is the way to do that. No energy bill is perfect, this bill has provisions for coal and ethanol which can be problematic but I am willing to see a little compromise for the larger picture.

In 2005 the white house heralded an energy bill and the benefits of alternative energy. Including the following provision:

Extends the existing tax credit for production of electricity from renewable resources, such as wind, biomass, and landfill gas, and creates for the first time a tax credit for residential solar energy systems

Well now is the time for action. The current bill does exactly this by moving some of the credits away from the oil and gas sectors. I figure at nearly $100 a barrel the oil sector can take care of itself. If president Bush cares even one iota about his legacy and would like to prove that he is more action than empty talking points then he will not veto this energy bill. If he wants to prove that he is a rapacious pawn of the oil industry he will veto this bill. Conventional wisdom says that the energy bill will be vetoed. But I am holding out hope that Bush will surprise us all. Perhaps he won’t but if he can make good on this and not oppose progress this one time I will be willing to give a little more benefit of the doubt to him. But he needs to prove himself here and stand with the american people not his oil cronies.

As an aside a lot a talk is being made about how we compete with China economically. One of the big under reported stories is how China has been embracing green tech and specifically solar in a big way. Even a bit of activism is hitting the streets in the form of a “Green Long March”. Many of the chinese based solar tech stocks are up in a big way. In my opinion there is money to be made out there by reinvesting in the green future. Transition the economy for both profit and environmentally sound reasons. That is my motto. But America needs to get in gear or we will find ourselves behind in the race. We should be exporting green tech to China and capitalizing on the potential, not letting ourselves atrophy under gluttonous addiction to oil. And we start by shifting our energy policies at home.

And finally a few solar technology stocks of interest

Evergreen Solar (ESLR). A Massachusetts based solar company that has been expanding rapidly.

Ascent Solar Technology (ASTI), another small cap solar company based in Colorado. What is it about Colorado? They seem to “get it” there. Colorado is also the home of energy visionary Amory Lovins.

And then there is the high flyer, First Solar (FSLR), a Phoenix Arizona based company with some manufacturing in Ohio. This particular stock is up over 800% for the year.

This is the face of the future. We can grow our way out of the difficulties we face, and make a little money along the way. It just takes thinking ahead a little. And this new energy bill does just that.

Falling retail numbers this winter? The real reason might lie in the skyrocketing cost of birth control. New federal legislation has removed the ability of local health clinics to buy birth control at discounted rates. The average college student now must spend an average of $50 a month on the pill whereas before they spent $12 a month on average. I know that when I was in college $50 was a significant amount of money. In some cases 25% of my rent. This will account for real economic trade offs people must make. Of course it will mean nothing to the Paris Hiltons of the world but all those students on pell grants might be coming home with a little more than a request for more money help to pay for student loans. When they talk about the unreasonable cost of healthcare this is it. And all because of the cynical machinations of a backwards, imbecile, abstinence only crowd. This crap really pisses me off. I can understand the concerns about teen sex etc. But the narrow, abysmal, and parochial agenda of the pro lifers has gone too far. They offer no reasonable solutions. Their only goal is to erode all the gains society has made in reproductive rights over the last 30 years.

An what of the right to lifer’s perspective on this? Of course they are behind this, but fail to see the consequences of their agenda. Everybody, and I mean everybody, is in favor of less abortions. But this kind of policy shift will only account for increased abortion rates. And I pity the poor souls living in the Dakotas who must travel hundreds of miles to the indian reservations to get their abortions just because they couldn’t afford the 400% increase in birth control that month. And with the price of gas, whooeeee! And who knows perhaps if the price of gas gets high enough the unlucky ones will be forced to drop out of school because they can’t afford an abortion. That is going to suck.

Yet another reason we need a woman in the whitehouse. Go Hillary!

Time to put all the neanderthals in their place.

Kos has a good post about how Bush used his 4th veto as president to veto the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Not surprising that Bush would choose to burn political capital by denying healthcare to children. What is really fascinating is that Dennis Kucinich, maven of the far left, also voted against the bill. Kos is right on when he classifies Kucinich as a “Purity Troll”.

I am tired of that tendency on the left. Shame on you Dennis, shame on you! We all have to work together, even if compromise is required.

Definitiion of Purity Troll from dkosopedia.

“Purity Trolls”. These are trolls from the left. Otherwise known in reallife as drama queens. No matter how pure your position is, their position is more pure. No matter how compassionate or informed or skeptical or vigorous your opinion is, theirs is more of it. These trolls are insistent that they are the true spirit of liberalism, and spend their time being quite put out that the rest of us don’t turn over our resources, our audiences, and our respect to them, regardless of how thin their positions may be on the merits. Drives me nuts, personally.

I have known quite a few purity trolls in my lifetime. You know who you are. Hell I probably used to be one myself. Even had a lost friendship over this behavior once. Interesting phenomena, quite boorish to be around.

Update:

In doing some more reading on the Kucinich vote I came across a juicy Voltaire quote.

“Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.”, from Voltaire’s Dictionnaire Philosophique (1764)

Literally translated as “The best is the enemy of good.”

Truer words have not been written, and it is this insight that fundamentally defines my personal politics.

This pronouncement from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad disturbs me. The nuclear issue is not closed. Iran can not have Nuclear weapons, and by extension a Uranium enrichment program, end of story. If this means military intervention in Iran then I support that. However, I think all diplomatic channels should be pursued aggressively, but a military option is permissible in my opinion. I know this may run counter to many on the left. I am opposed to the folly in Iraq, but I am not inclined to see Iran persist in its Uranium enrichment program. More to the point I am not sure Iran is entitled to any Nuclear program whatsoever. Even if it is “completely peaceful and transparent”. If they wanted to satisfy their domestic energy needs then Ahmadinejad should be talking to us about the progress they are making on solar energy. Surely the have enough sunshine in the desert to power all their homes? If he started talking about that then I would be impressed. The UN needs to step up, and major action needs to be taken immediately.

Unfortunately, I don’t think Bush has any more capital to spend on this issue. It will be up to Hillary to put Ahmadinejad in his place in 2009.

Of course as a side note, as long as the USA, France, and other major powers depend on Nuclear energy, we cannot avoid becoming duplicitous on this issue. That is why the only viable long term solution is to mothball Nuclear power across the globe. America needs to lead by example. And France, could help out as well.

A few interesting facts about Solar energy from wikipedia.

The total solar energy available to the earth is approximately 3850 zettajoules (ZJ) per year. When they first started researching solar energy it cost about $1500 per watt to produce. But today with greater efficiency it is less than $3 per watt to produce with modern Solar technology. There are estimates that a well-managed nuclear unit can produce electricity profitably at a total cost of 2.0-2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. However, I suspect this cost overlooks certain fixed costs and decommissioning costs that are inevitably borne by the tax payer. Not to mention the many, many, many years that it will take to safeguard nuclear waste. The economics of this issue needs more research on my part and I will return to the subject in a future blog post to address the economics. But this paper from the Rocky Mountain Institute entitled, Nuclear power: economics and climate-protection potential, is a good unbiased place to start. I welcome comments pro and con.