There are still quite a number of things waiting in line behind the economy and health care reform, like immigration reform and a new energy policy. In regards to developing green energy, turning vision into reality seems much easier said than done for most people. Real innovation seems to comes from lone individuals who spend their own time and money rather than from the corporate world that wants to stifle innovation, or offer half-arsed solutions like hybrids. The Obama administration has talked big about green and clean energy, but most of the talk is about nuclear and coal-based “solutions,” neither which is particularly “clean,” or every will be. But the public must also be indicted for expecting green energy solutions, but behaving in a NIMBY-like fashion when it comes to actually implementing them. Take for example wind-generated energy. Wind power is great—that is unless you live near a wind farm and the humming annoys you, or you are an environmentalist worried about their effect on birds; others claim they cause cancer, or interfere with the functioning of their cell phones (not such a bad thing, in my view). Or they might “spoil” the view, such as in some locales in New England; offshore fields have been opposed for this reason, although one suspects that property values are their real concern. Why I don’t know; when the oil runs out, everybody will want to live near something like a wind farm.

Everyone knows that oil will run out eventually, and sooner than people think; OPEC nations are notorious for deliberately over-estimating their “proven” oil reserves, because bloated estimates allows a country to export more oil under the OPEC quota system. The fact is we really do need to be serious about alternative and renewable energy now. “Inspiring” speeches are not enough, nor is patting yourself on the back merely because you think “green.”

I know a person who generally holds conservative opinions, but does see a business opportunity in green energy. Since 2002 he’s been developing an entirely battery run, zero-emission vehicle for commercial taxi purposes. Last year I was permitted to observe him in a low-tech garage-environment (along with one of those long-haired, high-energy techie-types), working on a rapid recharger that can fully charge an array of battery packs in an hour, and has run a van 142 miles in “real world” conditions—including at highway speeds—on one charge; the hope is that with even more efficient rapid recharge capabilities, a five-passenger vehicle can turn in 700-800 miles a day. From the business perspective, it obviously doesn't hurt that California is ground zero for acceptance for some semblance of green energy solutions. To learn more about how one man is doing his part to turn a green vision to reality, you can check out the website http://www.electricabtaxi.com.

Are we seriously going to let a few dozen selfish, greedy people determine how the other hundreds of millions of people are going to live? Just who do they think they are that they feel they are so entitled to make billions off of the misery of others?

Bernie Sanders was just saying he didn’t know the best strategy to start reversing some of these terrible “free trade” agreements.

How about using classic triangulation to split up the GOP and corporate Democrats?

As I recall Eisenhower got the Interstate Highway System passed over GOP opposition by arguing it was necessary for the nation’s defense.

So why not chip away at some of these free trade agreements by calling for a National Defense Reindustrialization Policy? The justification would be to make ourselves independent for everything from raw materials, heavy industry, electronics, software, uniforms, etc.

There’s really no end of the uses for this approach. If one really wanted to stretch the concept, what about dubbing universal health care as National Defense Health Infrastructure Policy? LOL

I learned one thing from this health care summit and related conversation:

I now believe that the reason Sen. Amy Klobuchar won't support the public option is that she has given her tacit or otherwise agreement with Obama (who bargained away the public option in a prelegislation agreement with the hospitals.)

I repeatedly call and write to her to support the public option, but I know now that she will not listen.

In regards to the caller's comments on Chinese steel, and these damnable free trade agreements. The old saying proves true....

"You get what you pay for."

Thank you Senator Sanders for finally talking about the Community Health Care Clinics! This part of the bill is better than the Public Option! Thousands of clinics that EVERYONE can use. Drugs at V.A. prices, Cancer screening, Dental, Eye and Mental Health care. For ALL Americans, insurance or not. Helps way more people than the Public Option ever would. This is why the bill must pass, Public Option or not!

I just found out about this. Why haven't we heard our progressive talkers emphasize this part of the bill before now?

If anything was “accomplished” by the healthcare summit, it was that there can no longer be any doubt that the gap between Democrats and Republicans is impossible to bridge. The Democrats (or most of them) don’t trust the health insurance industry, and the Republicans don’t trust government. The Democrats have sought an “in-between” solution, but for Republicans it is all-or-nothing. After a year of battling, the Republicans want to discard the whole bill and start over. What? The Republicans had a year to offer meaningful ideas, and offered none. It is too late now for them to wax victimized. Even the few things where there was “common ground” were little more than basic “principles.” I have to disagree with Victoria that the Republicans got the better of the Democrats; all they had to offer were questionable polls and deliberate misstatements of facts and figures, which for the most part Obama was able to successfully parry. The claim that state “high-risk” pools were a “successful” tool in covering people with pre-existing conditions was easily dispatched, since besides the excessive premiums that keep the number of people “benefiting” from these programs low, there is a one-year “waiting period” during which a person may die—waiting for that insurance to kick-in.

Republicans congressman like Rep. Paul Ryan might fool CNN’s Cambell Brown about the nature of his “plan”—the “centerpiece” of which sounds suspiciously like the privatization of Medicare, to be absorbed by the insurance companies. However, on Larry King Howard Dean did note that the Democrats did have 59 votes for reducing the Medicare eligibility age, more than enough for passing it through reconciliation, and further brought forth the idea of a mechanism for charging patients for the results of medical procedures—rather than for the procedures themselves—as a way of reducing runaway health care costs. In any case, it is now out in the open that the Republicans are not and never were serious about health care reform, and it is time for Democrats to move on without them, as Rep. Anthony Weiner during a House debate yesterday rather pointedly “suggested.”

As an aside, in regard to the tragic “accident” at Sea World where a trainer drowned when a killer whale dragged her underwater by her pony tail, it never ceases to amaze me how some people seem to believe (like Timothy Treadwell and Dian Fossey) that they have this “spiritual connection” with wild animals. The fact is we don’t really know what they “think,” we can only make deductions from their activities derived from their natural instinct for survival and procreation.

Finally, it is being said!!!

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Any-GOP-politician-who-vot-by-Mary-MacE...

Republican health care plan creates jobs!
We can't say that all the republican ideas were useless or worse.

Listening to the idea of 'undercover patients', I started to smile.
It's not the money saved in wasteful treatment or I'm sure the Acorn pimp moments they are probably hoping for to bring down Medicare..

The Republicans missed a chance to brag about job creation. Picture the legions of previously un-employable Hypochondriacs that can be hired for what they do best. A reliable work force? What are they going to do, call in sick??

Question is, will they get health care coverage with this job?
Happily single payer-covered up here..
Rick

(I called the American Society of Hypochondriacs for comment but nobody could come to the phone.)

KILLING ANIMALS IS A "MORAL" ISSUE:

"Killing plants is the same as killing animals," said one caller.. It is unbelievable people can think this way (I hope no further explanation is necessary). It appears to me vegetarians are better people, because we have compassion for other living things.. We do not bend over backwards [philosophically] to try and explain how they do not feel pain the way we do, and so on ad nausium..

Space aliens might come here and start eating us with these same arguments.. Is it a matter of whom is smarter, or is it a "moral" matter of compassion?

bobbler
Atheist/Vegetarian

A day late, I know, but I thought you might find it interesting that the city of Beverly Hills has issued a statement that denounced the comments made by Lauren Ashley. Turns out, the city of Beverly Hills does not sponsor any beauty pageant, for starters, and more importantly, they specifically condemned her statements. See link below:

http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2010/02/24/20593?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BoxTurtleBulletin+(Box+Turtle+Bulletin)&utm_content=My+Yahoo

McCain- I will talk about two fraud detections- These exist in California and in Texas. "We Texans hate California because they have stolen our water." 12:40 PST.

OBAMA: Interesting that you dont like Washington calling the shots unless its the shots you call --[ not exactly those words.]

Dick Durbin - was a lawyer who sued Dr. in malpractice suits. 54 billion saved is one fifth of one percent on healthcare, + 9800 die a year due to medical malpractice. Reducing the amount of money someone is entitled to is not an end to lawsuits. ie woman with wart on face - oxygen exploded on her face and all she got was 250,000.

Says all we are doing in this bill, is giving Americans what we federal employees have.

Kaiser says total paid, cut in half on lawsuits.-