Judith Miller Sprung From Calaboose

Judith Miller Sprung
From Calaboose

NY Times reporter Judith Miller was released from jail today. She was allegedly convinced that Scooter Libby's legal waiver was not "coerced." She'll testify later today. How many indictments will follow?

Arianna Huffington says:

"..there is no way that the New York Times editorial claiming “it should be clear…that Ms. Miller is not going to change her mind” can be squared with Ms. Miller changing her mind. And there is no way to accept at face value Miller’s grandstanding about “fighting for the cause of the free flow of information.” Who is she still trying to convince? Herself?"

After Miller answers Patrick Fitzgerald’s questions today, Huffington says she'd like to see Miller start answering some "obvious questions raised by her head-scratching stance." (link)

Edwards Launches "College for Everyone" Initiative

Edwards Launches "College for Everyone" Initiative
Pilot Program Will Benefit Students in Greene County, N.C.

Former Sen. John Edwards promised 140 high school seniors in one of the state's poorest counties that they could get free college tuition through a new program that will require them to work while they study. [Greensboro News and Record]

Edwards says the program would be funded by donations from individuals, companies and charitable foundations. Students could attend North Carolina State, East Carolina, Fayetteville State, North Carolina A&T and UNC-Wilmington. They could also go to two nearby community colleges. [WFMY News, Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem]

See the story by guest blogger Jon at the One America website.

See today's feature on John Edwards at The Daily Tar Heel by Erin Gibson -
A man with many hats

Also, Edwards appeared on News and Notes with Ed Gordon (NPR) today:

Former V.P. Candidate Edwards: Class and Katrina: News & Notes with Ed Gordon, September 29, 2005 · Former North Carolina senator and vice presidential candidate John Edwards talks about America's class crossroads and what can be learned from Hurricane Katrina.

*Audio for this story will be available here at approx. 1:00 p.m. ET

Keep It Real, David Brooks

Keep It Real, David Brooks
We'll respect you a lot more if you stop repeating what we know to be false

David Brooks really needs to get over himself and the patently false point he keeps trying to drive home, which is that Democrats are divided between those who are bitter partisans and those who are less so.

The Democrats have drawn the 10-years-out-of-date conclusion that in order to win, they need to be just like Tom DeLay. They need to rigidly hew to orthodoxy. They need Deaniac hyperpartisanship. They need to organize their hatreds around Bush the way the Republicans did around Clinton.- [NYT Select]

It just isn't true, no matter how many times Brooks says it. Perhaps this is what some pundits hope will become CW ("conventional wisdom,") if it is repeated enough. Democrats will have to show David Brooks that he is wrong. George Bush has become an unpopular president, and it has stunned those of us who have paid attention all along that he has gotten away with so much and has fooled so many Americans, with the help of pliant and intentionally tilted (Fox News) media.

Partisanship is a natural political tendency. To see the Bush administration getting away with lies and the systematic destruction of social democracy has never seemed natural. To see Fox News intentionally tilting the news to the right has never seemed natural. To see the Republican majority virtually shutting the Democrats out from the participatory process in Congress at every opportunity has never seemed fair, natural, or democratic.

If Howard Dean takes the time to remind Americans that it was a vile (and sometimes criminal) kind of partisanship that has allowed us to be in the weakened position our country is in today and to allow the evils of poverty and inequality to flourish, then I say more power to him. At the same time, I look to potential presidential candidates who can offer positive ideas to pull our nation out of the rot to which the Bush administration has led us. Americans aren't so stupid that they're going to continue falling for the line about how Democrats hate Bush. We don't have to hate him anymore - he's a proven abuser of the public trust, and so are many who played vile games thinking the media would continue to cover for them. Drunk with power, Republicans got much too cocky. As Bush and his Republican cronies (in Congress, his administration, and beyond) continue to screw up royally, and as each wrongdoer falls in shame, it will be less likely that Democrats will be forced to convince Americans of what's been true all along.

Bill Bennett Helps GOP to Lose More Minority Votes

Bill Bennett Helps GOP to Lose More Minority Votes
..This idiotic run-of-the-mouth may lose the GOP as many minority votes as the Hurricane Katrina federal response failures

A titan among moral titans. Virtuous spokesman of the virtuous Republican party. Distinguished Fellow of the Heritage Foundation. Bill Bennett says...

"You could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down"
[See Steve Gilliard]

A commenter at Gilliard's News Blog says, in response:

We could come up with some stats that prove that if we aborted the offspring of conservative whites about 50-60 years ago, we would have less white collar crime, federal cronyism and government incompetance.

The Public's Changing Mood

The Public's Changing Mood

David Michael Green on the changing mood of the public toward American politics:

Even conservative columnists like David Brooks (though not Novak) are writing articles nowadays accurately describing the changed mood of the American public. Where those powerful currents are heading is unclear, but given the radical right experiment of the present as their point of departure, there would seem to be only two choices. We can either go completely off the deep-end and finally constitute the Fascist Republic of Cheney, or we can turn to the left, toward some semblance of rational policymaking. The latter seems far more likely, especially as America increasingly regains its senses after a long bout of temporary insanity. These are bad bits of news for poor George, but worse yet is that they are only the first signs of the coming apocalypse. The real fun stuff is just around the corner.

Rall on Iraq War: Polarization, Apathy, and Silence

Rall on Iraq War: Polarization, Apathy, and Silence

Ted Rall has some interesting thoughts on the Iraq war.

A year ago, [certain developments] would have sparked accusations, counterarguments and fierce debates in the U.S. over what to do next. Now, no one cares.

Rall claims that political polarization has contributed to citizen apathy and silence.

The Iraq war, validated by neither constitutional legality nor (unlike Vietnam) international endorsement via the U.N., prompted millions to protest before it even began. So when the reality of Iraq belied the Bush Administration's promises--no WMDs, no body armor, no rose petals, no mission accomplished--we clammed up like a bickering couple whose positions are intractable and diametrically opposed. After 9/11, only a fool would have let Saddam remain in power, say the Bushian 44 percent. And 56 percent reply: only a fool would have attacked Saddam while 9/11 remained unavenged. But they keep their opinions to themselves and the occasional pollster.

How do you stop a war that you believe is unjust and immoral when most Americans could give a hoot?

"..the war has become institutionalized. It is background noise. It is hard to imagine what could happen in Iraq that would make pay attention and talk, even argue, about the war. A bomb that killed a thousand civilians? Probably not even that ... Right or wrong? Essential or idiotic? When it comes to the war against Iraq, Americans only agree about one thing: It is no longer interesting. And so, pro or con, it is lost all the same."

Republican Scandals Abound

Republican Scandals Abound

Catherine Dodge and Laura Litvan [Bloomberg] report that U.S. Senate Majority leader Bill Frist will cooperate with all probes and "denies having any non-public information when he directed the sale of his HCA Inc. stock a month before the company said quarterly profit would miss analysts estimates."

Otis Bilodeau [Bloomberg] follows up his own story about the probability of an SEC probe from yesterday with today's Frist Faces Heat as SEC Orders Formal Inquiry Into Stock Sale

The SEC authorized a formal order of investigation of Frist's sale in June of HCA Inc. shares, people with direct knowledge of the inquiry said yesterday. The order allows the agency's enforcement unit to subpoena documents and compel witnesses to testify, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the order hasn't been made public...``This turns the flame up under the kettle and keeps the water boiling,'' said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the independent Rothenberg Poltical Report in Washington.

At the WaPo, Terry M. Neal asks:

Is it 1994 all over again? .. Dark and ominous clouds are gathering over the Republican Party these days, with a series of ethical and legal scandals that threaten to further damage a White House and Congress already reeling from a sharp drop in public approval ratings...Rep. Tom Delay (Tex.), Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (Tenn.) and a top administration official (David Safavian, the White House's top procurement officer) have all been ensnared in highly embarrassing ethics scandals recently.

Catherine Dodge [Bloomberg] reports that U.S. House Representative Roy Blunt will replace Tom Delay as U.S. House Majority leader. (Blunt info)

When will we hear about what U.S. federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald discovered over the summer about traitors/CIA outers Karl Rove and Scooter Libby?

The "I-word" (impeachment) is seriously discussed by Dr. Bernard Weiner.

Citizens/Media Speak Out on Posse Comitatus

Citizens/Media Speak Out on Posse Comitatus

- Farewell Posse Comitatus [watchblog.com]

- The Mother of All Bad Ideas [scalzi.com]

- The War on Posse Comitatus [mutualist blog]

- Posse Comitatus Problems
[qando.net]

- Using the Military at Home [PBS]

- Repealing Posse Comitatus Means Iraq in the US. Do We Really Want This? [ilcaonline.org]

- If Posse Comitatus is chucked, time to reconsider federalism
[PalmBeachPost.com]

- Hands off Posse Comitatus [newsleader.com]

- Leave things that don't need fixing alone [baxterbulletin.com]

- Should the military handle natural disasters? - Posse antiqus [mtulode.com]

- The Danger of Standing Armies [lewrockwell.com]

- Pentagon begins review of law on military's domestic role [govexec.com]

- Proposal for military to take lead in disasters raises concerns [Knight Ridder]

- Bush Wants to Consider Broadening of Military's Powers During Natural Disasters [NYT]

Poverty in America

Poverty in America

It's plain to see that Poverty is in the forefront of American minds today, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the reality of which Katrina exposed as she literally blew the curtain away. There is a reawakening in this country, after 30-40 years of virtual political silence.

Sandra Price says the key to stopping the cycle of poverty is Education:

I watch every Governor’s convention on CSPAN and hear them pat each other on the back for some stupid bridge or street and they know damn well the children in their own states are failing academically in every district...We must pull these kids up to a higher standard and allow them to set goals and learn their own strengths and help fix their weaknesses.

Published originally at EtherZone.com

Others have ideas about the state of American education and the poverty problem:

1. Paul Nyhan - College divide threatens to keep the poor in poverty [Seattle Intelligencer]

2. David Brooks - The Education Gap [NYT Select]


Marc H. Morial lays out the National Urban League's ideas regarding post-Katrina protection for those who have lived for too long in poverty:

"...the National Urban League has proposed a Victims Bill of Rights which recommends guidelines Congress should take to protect the victims and ease their burdens—including a victims compensation fund (as was done for the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks) for the hundreds of thousands of citizens injured, killed and displaced as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

Congress should also provide meaningful federal disaster unemployment assistance to every worker—estimated to be at least half a million—left jobless by this tragedy. And it must ensure that the hundreds of thousands of displaced Gulf citizens continue to have full voting rights in their home states and districts, so that they can have a proper voice in the rebuilding of their communities."

The poverty rate in Santa Clara county, California, has shocked many people. Of the nearly 400,000 families living in Santa Clara County, almost a quarter, or approximately 93,000 families, earn annual incomes less than the local family threshold of $45,000.


Jim Cresson of the Cape Gazette (Cape region, Delaware) staff reports that Derrick Span, national president of the Community Action Partnership, urged people of Sussex County to call on their elected representatives to support a renewed anti-poverty plan for America. Hurricane Katrina shed new light on old problems, said Span, speaking Sept. 17 to more than 125 members and guests at the Lower Sussex Branch of the NAACP's annual Freedom Fund Banquet at Grace United Methodist Church.

“Katrina was a sociological exclamation point, a political question mark, a moral indictment and a theological statement,” he said. “Why in a nation committed to family values, was so little done to protect those displaced families in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane? Why did it take so long to rescue them? Every human being has dignity, and all humans deserve to be rescued.”....Span said it became obvious that the hurricane revealed a need for a new national anti-poverty law. He said the Congressional Black Caucus recently laid out an eight-point plan to fight poverty and presented it to the Bush administration. But he also said more needs to be done.

“There are more than 37 million Americans living in poverty,” Span said. “That is 1 million more people than were living in poverty in 2004. There are 47 million people, many of them working poor, who do not have health insurance for themselves or their families.”

Span said that poverty is not just a black or white issue; it is a multicultural issue. He said it is not just an inner-city issue; it is also a rural issue. And he said it is not just a regional issue; it is an American issue, one that must be solved soon.

“There is no coherent policy for the poor, and that amounts to economic terrorism,” he said. “The weapons of mass destruction related to poverty are poor health, poor housing and no housing. People who work must be paid more. There is no such thing as a menial job, because every job has dignity. There is just menial pay, and that can be corrected.”

Full text available at Cape Gazette.com


In a Hartford Courant article about an upcoming Mahavir Ahimsa (non-violence) Seminar at the University of Connecticut's Storrs campus featuring Sri Lankan speaker Jeyanthy Siva, Susan Campbell says:

"Substitute "New Orleans" or "Gulf Coast" for "Sri Lanka" and you can ask the same questions. But Siva pushes the discussion just a little further: How can we continue to ignore U.S. poverty?"Whether a 20-meter wall of water works to clear the minds of a populace horrified by poverty and devastation, a discussion of inequity and fairness must be ongoing. And it must not fall into the us vs. them category...Katrina ripped off a psychic lid...If a wall of water did not cleanse the land, it can at least serve to clear perceptions.

Voice of America (Jim Malone) has a feature on the ways in which the "Hurricane aftermath" has sparked a debate over Poverty.
Malone report - Download 674k
- Listen to Malone report
- watch Hurricane Poverty report / Real broadband
- watch Hurricane Poverty report /Real broadband
- watch Hurricane Poverty report / Real dialup
- watch Hurricane Poverty report / Real dialup

____________

Jack Kemp, the 1996 Republican vice presidential nominee and former U.S. Housing secretary, wrote last week that conservatives could turn Katrina into an opportunity just as presidents Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt did during other periods of crisis.

In an essay in the online conservative journal Human Events, Kemp wrote: "In the wake of this national catastrophe we should all be imagining the unimaginable."

- From a report at BlackAmericaweb.com, which is site with Republican-based views. See Rep. Elijah Cummings'(D-MD) comments, also.


OTHER ARTICLES:

Poverty: The Crisis Katrina Revealed BusinessWeek

Politicians' ignorance of poverty helps foster climate of cynicism Decatur Daily Democrat

Katrina highlighted the problem of poverty Fort Worth Star Telegram

Bringing Up Mommy Portsmouth Herald, NH

Realities of Poverty Atmore Advance, AL

Poverty exposed: Winds of Katrina swept away cloak that hides America's poor Martha Mendoza | Associated Press

Empowering the poor by David T. Ellwood Boston Globe

New Orleans flooding flushes poverty back into fashion Tom Teepen/SaltLakeTribune

Poverty and Racism in America Kevin Agnese/Manhattan College Quadrangle

"....now, in the aftermath of one of the greatest natural disasters the country has ever faced, with his approval ratings slipping down the tubes because thousands of poor residents didn't have any means to escape certain death, the nation is expected to believe Bush cares about the poor. Sorry Mr. President, not a chance."
[State of the Legacy - The Daily Campus - UConn]

John Edwards on Jon Stewart's Daily Show Oct 5th

John Edwards on Jon Stewart's Daily Show Oct 5th

Sen John Edwards will appear on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart on October 5th (next Wednesday).

Recent Speeches Available Online:

Center for American Progress Speech
Video & Transcript
• Intro: Video
• Speech: Video
• Q&A Session: Video
• Transcript: Full text (PDF)

Sen Tom Harkin's (D-Iowa) Steak Fry,
Warren County Fairgrounds, Indianola, Iowa (CSPAN)

Modern Real Estate Practice in North Carolina

North Carolina is one of the fastest growing states in the union, and one of the reasons is the astonishingly rich variety of homes available to the discerning shopper. One Carolina company, Smart Choice Realty, for example, offers unique opportunities such as cash back at closing and zero money down.
For more on real estate in North Carolina, a good place to start is by reading Modern Real Estate Practice in North Carolina, but perhaps a better way would be to have a look yourself. A combination of the two, plus copious surfing of the net, will always yield fruit.

In a few weeks, North Carolina will play host to bloggers from all over America, and I think it would be nice if some of them decided to relocate here. One can never have too many bloggers!

So after attending the ConvergeSouth conference, take a drive around and see if you find something that jumps out at you.

- Mr Beckwith (anonyMoses) has performed internet related services for a variety of companies, like Automated Directions, Inc. -- a full service system integrator and distributor for many of today's leading manufacturers of material handling equipment -- WebKorner -- Web and Internet solutions for homes and businesses in the Charlotte area -- Casual Furniture World where comfort CAN be beautiful...and affordable -- The Leonardo Store -- which was introduced from Germany, but whose accolades include the Oprah magazine's "O" list, and stints on the Today Show and Redbook. Some of these companies will be sending representatives to the conference and may soon be entering the exotic world of bizblogging.

Tar Heel Tavern 31

Tar Heel Tavern 31

Don't miss this week's Tar Heel Tavern at Pratie Place.

WaPo Rips Iraq Constitution

WaPo Rips Iraq Constitution

Faced with sinking domestic support, the Bush administration seems driven by an unwise zeal to produce visible results in Iraq -- such as a ratified constitution -- however problematic they may be. [WaPo editorial]

The Iraq war has been based upon deceiving the public with the most vile form of politics I have ever witnessed in my time. I search history for something that rivals the low level of planning and respect for the American citizens' collective sense of intelligence. Someone recently called this moment in time Bush's "Lincoln moment." This is not to say he is a uniter who leads a nation, even when it means war. Instead, it means war based on lies and fake benchmarks for political gain - and through it all, he has not fooled all the people all the time. As a matter of fact, he has fooled only a few - some so blindly partisan that they would fall off a cliff if Bush led them...and Bush is leading them.

If the protesters visiting Washington this weekend succeeded in forcing a quick U.S. troop withdrawal, the bloodshed in Iraq, and the damage to the United States, would grow far worse.

I see the logic in this statement. Emotions tell a different story. Only President Bush and his administration can rectify this problem of public perception. Only they can turn this around to make the war a global effort to bring Iraqis to the table and to convince them it's a sincere effort for the peace - and not a race for control of their energy resources or some kind of an imperial stampede or holy war. I have no confidence that they will ever change the course to make the Iraq war a success. If you think that doesn't concern (and perhaps frighten) millions of Americans, I'd have to say you aren't paying close attention. Who wants to wind up with an Iraq that no one will have an interest in defending?

Political Correctness Will Not Serve Progressives Well

Political Correctness Will Not Serve Progressives Well

Ruth Rosen fears that liberals are accepting a Conservative reframing of the problem of poverty - namely the National Review's Rich Lowry's naming of the root cause of the poverty exposed by Hurricane Katrina as "the breakdown of the family." She says:

With amazing gall, conservatives have shredded the safety net and then blamed unmarried mothers for their own neglect-the-poor policies.

Ms. Rosen includes NYT columnist Nicholas Kristof and former Sen John Edwards in this analysis, and I'll tell you where I think she's not being fair.

We progressives tend to cling to the belief that the Bush domestic policy (which has shredded the domestic safety net) is such an obvious perversion that it, on its own, it is a strength and a surefire strategy for the electability of Progressives in 2006 and 2008. We've been proven wrong on that belief before, and we could very well be proven wrong again. We cannot rely on mere disgust for the Bush agenda for political success. We need ideas - good ideas - ideas that work in the reality-based community.

Stating the fact that more teen pregnancies can be prevented by advocating for new economically healthy/federally-funded social programs is surely not a turn toward conservatism. It speaks of a reality that anyone can clearly understand and it supports social democracy by creating ideas for programs that work when properly funded and administered.

Ms. Rosen quotes New York Times reporter Jason DeParle, who concluded in his book "American Dream" that "it is poverty itself — not a lack of personal responsibility—that is the main reason for single-parent families."

If that is true, and it well may be, I would hope that Ms. Rosen and other progressives would embrace the hard truth that it's still wrong to bring into the world a child for whom the parents are not ready to take responsibility. We need to continue to pull young girls out of their abject poverty by strengthening them with education and opportunity. I don't believe it's a liberal sin to speak about the reality that is right before our eyes.

That is not to say that a single woman cannot be responsible for a child when she makes a conscious decision to bear one. Responsibility is the key word.

In a speech last week at CAP (The Center for American Progress), I heard Sen Edwards say that if given the opportunity, he'd lead many young men who've fathered children (and have abandoned them) to more responsibility by creating welfare-reform opportunity for them and mandating them to pay child-support in the participatory process. That is part of what could be a new democratic society by federal design, and it isn't a conservative idea. It's progressive - and it's realistic.

CSPAN - Road to the White House

CSPAN - Road to the White House

Be sure to tune in on Sunday at 6:30 pm as C-SPAN's "Road to the White House 2008" continues. This week's installment will feature former Sen. John Edwards' Sept. 18 speech to the 28th Annual Harkin Steak Fry at the Warren County Fairgrounds in Indianola, IA.

Aldon Hynes on Washington DC March

Aldon Hynes on Washington DC March

My Idea Consultants colleague Aldon Hynes has written a blog for Howard Dean's Blog for America website. It begins..

Today, hundreds of thousands of Americans gathered in Washington to express their displeasure with the current administration, it's policies in Iraq and the horrible effect those policies are having on people across America....

Aldon says that we'll hear soundbytes about the March, but they will not reflect what is really happening out there in D.C. and on other American street corners.

It wasn't just the national politics that united us. Several of us talked about the importance of races further down the ticket, such as Melissa Berger's campaign for House of Delegates in Maryland. We talked about the importance of reaching out to people in rural America such as Rob at turningblue has been doing in Georgia.

At the end of the day, I spoke with Kim who is up in Burlington and about the importance of campaigns around the country. I write this post sitting in Hypatia's kitchen as numerous bloggers eat, laugh and take pictures.

The way we are going to take this country back is through the friendships that we all share on this blog, when we get together for fun and when we work together on campaigns.

There were 100,000 people who protested the war in D.C. yesterday...and there were a couple hundred anti-peace types who were apparently unaware that there already was no peace in Iraq...

Broussard says: "Get Out of My Face"

Broussard says: "Get Out of My Face"

Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana sent out the message to all ideologues - including rightwing bloggers who Broussard believes have an agenda when accusing him of politicizing Katrina.

"Get out of my face."

On Meet the Press today, Broussard entertained direct challenges regarding the now-clarified details of an emotional story which he'd told Tim Russert about the abandonment of New Orleans by the federal government in the aftermath of Katrina.

Bill Frist's Very Bad Week

Bill Frist's Very Bad Week

Adam Zagorin of Time Magazine, reports that the U.S. Army has launched a criminal investigation into new allegations of serious prisoner abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan made by a decorated former Captain in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division.

Senate sources tell TIME that the Captain has also reported his charges to three senior Republican senators: Majority Leader Bill Frist, Armed Services Committee chairman John Warner and John McCain, a former torture victim in Vietnam. A Senate Republican staffer familiar with both the Captain and his allegations told TIME he appeared "extremely credible."..The new allegations [Human Rigts Watch] center around systematic abuse of Iraqi detainees by men of the 82nd Airborne at Camp Mercury, a forward operating base located near Fallujah, the scene of a major uprising against the U.S. occupation in April 2004.

At Think Progress:

On July 27, the same month the Captain came forward, Sen. Frist single-handedly derailed a bipartisan effort — led by Sen. McCain — to clarify rules for the treatment of enemy prisoners at U.S. prison camps. In what news reports at the time described as an “unusual move,” Frist “simply pulled the bill from consideration” before it could be debated.

A suggestion is made that Bill Frist should "come clean: Was his office told of the “systematic abuse” in the 82nd Airborne before he torpedoed the new detainee laws?"

Bill Frist is having a rough week. At the Progressive Zone, David has a thorough blogpost about the questions surrounding Frist's possible insider stock trading.

First Peak Oil Conference in NYC

First Peak Oil Conference in NYC
October 5 9 A.M. - 5 P.M

The first Peak Oil Conference will take place in in New York City On October 5th www.petrocollapse.org. Oil experts and scientists will speak on the local and global consequences of Peak Oil. Speakers include James Howard Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency; Dr. John Darnell, Science and Energy Advisor to Congressman Roscoe Bartlett; Jan Lundberg of Culturechange.org, former publisher of the Lundberg Survey; Mike Ruppert, author: Crossing the Rubicon, Fromthewilderness.com; David Pimental, Cornell University, and David Room, Post Carbon Institute. The Moderator is Jenna Orkin, co-founder of the World Trade Center Environmental Organization. The event is sponsored by Culturechange.org and by Continuing Education & Public Programs, The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY).

It takes place at the Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist 40 E. 35th Street, New York, NY 10016

The Petrocollapse Conference the participants will ask:

1. What are we facing now as the economy prepares to hit the wall known as resource limits? Will growth suddenly implode?

2. What will be the effects of Peak Oil (a geological phenomenon) and petrocollapse (an economic and social phenomenon) on food supply and other services we depend on?

3. What is the role of the market in determining how severe will be the effect of shortage stemming from geological depletion?

4. Upon upheaval, deprivation, and a restructuring of social relations in a "new" local economics system, will we choose to create a sustainable culture?

5. Is there a "Plan B" to ease a transition to sustainable living in a world without plentiful energy and petroleum's materials? "It is up to us to find solutions that involve everyone in a spirit of solidarity," said Lundberg

Source: PRWeb.com

Katrina’s Wake: Our Government and the Common Good

Katrina’s Wake: Our Government and the Common Good

According to Mark J. Green, Air America is organizing a colloquium Tuesday evening, September 27, at CUNY Graduate Center in New York City entitled “Katrina’s Wake: Our Government and the Common Good” to begin a conversation that will next culminate in November ’06 or November ’08. For information about the guest speakers, please visit their websites : Katrina vanden Heuvel; Billy Sothern; Mark Green; National Priorities Project; ACORN.


SEE: If Poverty is the Question by the late Paul Wellstone:

I will be the first to say that adults in our society need to take responsibility for themselves if they possibly can. But until we come to a real understanding of the structural problems in our economy and society that are getting in our way, we will continue to legislate by bumper stickers and slogans. We need to have an honest national conversation, and an honest conversation in every community, about what is really going on, why we face the unacceptable level of poverty and near-poverty, and what we are going to do about it.