Okay. I'm back. I'm alive. I have survived.
And, I am STILL just as passionate as ever about things that I believe in.

If you're out there, and you remember me, or if you've joined a group here - known as, "Cellulosic Ethanol ROCKS!", then hit me up.

I'd love to know what you've been up to, for real.

Gosh, I've missed being here. I was so busy living life, that I hadn't realized (it). It's like when you taken a long trip or vacation...

It's good to be home.
What about you? How you doing?

When I first heard Congresswoman Bachmann spout off one of her many completely wrong on the facts statements I thought, “OK she’ll be a one term congresswoman and then she’ll fade away.” Well we know how wrong I was on that. I have been reading more on her career and candidacy for president and quite frankly I’m worried. Unlike Sarah Palin, Michelle never met a lame stream camera she didn’t like. This may be a larger part of the reason she did so well in the recent Iowa GOP poll. Like Palin there are people who don’t care if she’s wrong on the facts. Why, because they want to live in a world where her facts are true. However we know how to deal Michelle Bachmann and her supporters.   Read More »

Well this year's hearings on Maryland's medical marijuana bills HB 291 and SB 308 have concluded. To say these bills are on life support is optimistic. But hey, a little optimism goes a long way. There is still activity outside the hearing process to try to work out something. I will of course keep readers up to date on anything that comes out of those discussions.

I want to thank Del. Morhaim and Sen. Brinkley for championing this issue in our state. I also want to tell everyone, that despite my opposition to their approach on cultivation and distribution these two gentlemen have treated me and all proponents of personal cultivation with the utmost respect. I thank them and their staffs for the kindness they have personally shown me.

The big news coming out of these hearings has been the change in position by Governor O'Malley and the Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH). The governor sent the Secretarty of DHMH Joshua Sharfstein to convey this to the committees. This spurred the following response from yours truly in the Baltimore Sun:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-medical-marijuana-20110302,0,3781625.story   Read More »

Link

Republican­s tend to admit they are acting against working people because their unions tend to support Democrats.

Implicit in this argument is the notion that Democrats only support collective bargaining­, because of the political benefit they get from union members.

In reality, Democrats' support for collective bargaining comes from a moral value system that Republican­s just do not share.

Democrats tend to believe that workers have universal rights, and they should be protected from the potential abuses of those who would employ them.

The support of collective bargaining comes out of this moral foundation - and that's where Republican­s and Democrats differ.

Now, the same can be said for Republican­s: their opposition to worker's rights comes from a moral value system as well, its just a *different­* one.

And that's good because we *should* have competing value systems in a free society; however, the outcome of this particular moral conflict will have a significan­t effect on the 2012 elections.

The outcome of this conflict will determine whether the American public believes that working and middle class families caused our deficits, or if the rich people at the top did.

If I was a betting person, I'd throw my lot in with the working and middle class - by sheer number, our representa­tive will at the ballot box is formidable­.

And its the same with events across the middle east - let them inspire working America to rediscover our majority!

Dick Cheney Was Right! Torture Works.

By Lloyd Hart

That's if you are torturing for the explicit purpose of having torture victims confess to crimes they didn't commit. And that of course is exactly why the U.S. Military and intelligence agencies used torture, to extract false confessions for everything under the sun related to the War on Terror from captured individuals in U.S., British and their proxies custody. All deliberately done to maintain the narrative, continued financing and execution of the Pentagon invented phony war on terror.

If the 911 trials actually go ahead using information extracted during the use of torture, will the world accept the already planned guilty verdicts the U.S. Military and intelligence agencies have scripted for this scene in their sorted war on terror propaganda love affair with the U.S. Military and intelligence budgets that they extract from the pissing in their pants compliant politicians in the U.S, congress and White House? Will the world see Barrack Obama as the 2008 hero of democracy he proclaimed himself to be? Especially now, with this second very large dump of secret U.S. Military and intelligence files into Wikileaks, documenting Iraqi proxy torture, summary executions and sport murder of Iraqi civilians by U.S. and British troops etc. etc...

Having lived here in the U.S. for about twenty years I find the America public's acceptance of the use of torture in the war on terror or the American left's simply taking it in, in stride, as normal American behavior as torture is used every day in America to extract false confessions from black, latino or undesirable white guy pot smokers in police departments all across this country.

The case of Abner Louima come to mind.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/june99/louima08.htm

Etc. etc. etc. etc...

The reality is, America has practiced collective torture on blacks and latinos as a deliberate not so secret unwritten policy to maintain racial segregation of neighborhoods and schools through constant police harassment, racial profiling and torture to extract false confessions keeping the majority of the radically bloated American prison population made up of mostly blacks and latinos. This is grotesque just on the face of it but when you add in the fact that whites commit most of the crime in America, it can leave you permanently demoralized. The war on drugs was just another tool added to the mix to maintain white superiority in the economy and the illicit drug economy as the corporate media pretends all the drug dealers in America have dark skin.

The L.A.P.D. Rampart Division Scandal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rampart_scandal

Ok, let's make the use of torture our official policy!

I was recently watching the former Governor of New York Elliot Spitzer interview the famed attorney Allan Dershowitz on Spitzer's new show on CNN in which Spitzer fawned over his former Harvard law professor as Dershowitz seriously proposed and was supporting the idea that the United States create a section in the law where prosecutors could go to a judge and request a "Torture Warrant" which would protect the authorities from future prosecution and sanitize the material acquired through the use of torture from being excluded in trial.

Allan Dershowitz has clearly gone criminally insane and is now supporting changes in the law that could only compare him to the lawyers in Nazi Germany who wrote and past laws to support the confiscation of Jewish owned property, deportation of Jews from Germany and eventually the total extermination of the all Jews on the planet in what is now known as the Holocaust.

But Dershowitz is not the only American liberal to adopt this mentality, it seems to have spread far and wide. The fact is that the U.S. Attorney General's refuses to bring war crimes charges against the previous regime in the White House and the continuing regime in the Pentagon and President Barrack Obama's refusal to close the Guantanamo physician assisted and approved torture factory and stating publicly that the U.S. needs to look to the future and not look to the past, is direct complicity in a cover up so monumental that it will eventually lead to the total collapse of all legal authority everywhere.

What Barrack Obama is saying to the world by his complicity in this unprecedented cover up is, we, America have the military might and the rest of you don't, so shut the fuck up and do as we say.

Well, to this I say, you, Mr. President Barrack Obama and Dick Cheny and the entire U.S. Military and intelligence establishment can go fuck yourselves. You and your phony American Exceptionalism can kiss my ass!

American Exceptionalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_exceptionalism

There's an article in the huffingtonpost today that talks about the how Republicans try to have it both ways when attacking government health insurance, while simultaneously defending Medicare.

It's an good piece I suggest reading, because it points to a deep contradiction in Republican ideology. In the article, Sharron Angle is quoted criticizing the health insurance reforms enacted by Democrats.

Republicans like Angle cynically state the solution to health reform is "simple." I am so sick of hearing that ridiculous talking point. How naive you must be to think that health insurance reform will magically happen if we just have faith in the oh-so-great "free market."

Y'mean that great free market that inflated real estate values, traded toxic derivatives, and made rich creeps richer while bankrupting our nation? That free market that allowed insurers to jack your rates and discriminate against people with preexisting conditions, while making billions of dollars profit? The one that inflated gas prices and collected billions Americans lost jobs?

If we are to believe the conservative dogma about the oh-so-great and magical free market, we are to understand that health insurance companies would reinvest their profits in new jobs and better services. That Wall St. would put those profits from selling grandma's house back into our economy. That Meg Whitman would hire American workers at a decent wage.

But that doesn't happen does it? No, Ms. Angle the problem is not too much government intervention in the free market, it is a free market gone wild.

We have seen direct evidence of the complete failure of deregulation and unrestrained greed, in the 8 years of Republican rule our country endured.

Democrats have turned us in a new direction. We can either go forward, or we can return to the same failed policies that bankrupted us in the first place.

Wrong as they may be, conservatives are fired up and angry enough to get to the polls - while progressives have been infighting and losing inspiration.

I'm glad to see some of that changing in these last days before the election: the conservative movement continues to fracture as a result of tea party radicalism, while Democrats appear to be surging. But will it be enough?

A full forced sweep across the country needs to be made by the president, former presidents, and - yes - Hillary Clinton. Our attitude should be more pro-active. We have accomplished a lot to be proud of in 20 short months. We need to take responsibility and stand strong for the reforms we have passed in such a short time: We stopped the recession, we ended discrimination for preexisting conditions, and we covered millions of uninsured Americans, while remaining budget neutral.

Democrats have made smart and responsible decisions that have turned our country in the right direction, and opened the door to a brighter future.

Now its up to use to walk through that open door. But we can't do it, unless Democrats unify and work together supporting each other, and standing strong for progressive values.

The current political climate is angry and chaotic. But its only a threat to Democrats in that we are not yet serious about forming our governing coalition.

Its time for liberal, progressive, and conservative Dems to put aside our differences and devise a rational power-sharing agreement. We will support each other over the short-term, in the name of achieving the long-term goals we all share: a prosperous, innovate nation that will lead the clean energy revolution, a restoration of the middle class and the American Dream, and smart fiscal policies.

If you haven't seen it yet, there's a video on Huffingtonpost today, in which Arianna and Mike Huckabee find some common ground about capitalism and the middle class. Its a great discussion, and I think it illustrates some interesting ways that progressives can engage Republicans on common ground.

I would love to see more conversations like this between people from different political backgrounds, because ultimately our system of government predetermines some kind of compromise in the end, regardless of who is in power.

What's interesting it that despite party differences, Mike Huckabee and Arianna Huffington agree on quite a few things.

For example, they both agree that an erosion of the moral basis of capitalism is destroying the American middle class. But Mike seems to reflexively think this erosion is because of too much government intervention, and Arianna makes a great point that government itself is, in fact bought and paid for by capitalist interests.

These special interests purchase influence on legislation to benefit their greed - even if it hurts the country in the long run. In fact, that's how we got where we are now.

What we need here, is a way to persuade conservatives like Huckabee that government is the problem inasmuch as it is influenced by lobbyists and special interests.

From this perspective, passing health insurance reform and Wall St. reform was about government acting morally, to restore a sense of fairness to industries that had become too powerful and abusive of the American people.

We progressives wanted stronger reforms, but our conservative brethren thought if we tampered any more with the system we must be "socialists," so we went for a moderate approach. In the end, we implemented reforms that in fact changed a lot of things: we ended discrimination for preexisting conditions, and covered millions of uninsured Americans. We ended the insider dealings of Wall St. by requiring derivatives to be traded openly. And we stopped the recession, while at the same time investing in green industries that will lead our country into a new era of prosperity and freedom from foreign oil.

Socialists? Tyrants? Hardly. Democrats have acted morally and responsibly, and history will vindicate them for how much they achieved in two short years.

I hope you have all been following the story about how Lou Dobbs had illegal immigrants working for him, because this issue - along with the recent Meg Whitman scandal - says something very important about the difference between Democrats and Republicans.

Dobbs crusaded on his show against companies who hire illegal immigrants. Dobbs made it clear that he thinks there is NO excuse, even if a subcontractor hires them.

Now, we find out that Dobbs is hiding behind the same excuse. The problem with Lou, is that he is a hypocrite with his "Do as I say, not as I do" attitude. He isn't even denying that contractors hired illegal workers.

The larger point that needs to be made, though, is this: Dobbs, Whitman, Romney, and all the other *wealthy* right-wingers who have been caught benefiting from illegal workers, are addicted to cheap labor.

And that's what really gets me. These people are RICH, for gosh-sakes, they have PLENTY of money to hire American workers at a decent wage if they practiced half the things they preach!

Don't blame the immigrants, who work harder for less than our own citizens. Blame the rich folks like Dobbs, Whitman, and the rest, who have every opportunity to hire American workers, but who are so cheap they just won't do it.

These rich right-wingers benefit from illegal workers, while at the same time they use the immigration issue to divide American workers and illegal workers. What we really need is for American workers and immigrant workers to band together to end the addiction to cheap labor for rich hypocrites like Dobbs.

One final point: Republicans have been selling us on this idea that if we cut taxes for the rich again, they will create jobs. The failure of this idea can be illustrated so well in cases like Dobbs, Whitman, and Romney. Those rich people who have every means of creating jobs for Americans, have been caught in a lie. Their actions have proven they have no intention whatsoever of creating good jobs for Americans. Cheap labor only. That's the Republican way!

Not only is income and wealth in America more concentrated in fewer hands than it's been in 80 years, but those hands are buying our democracy as never before -- and they're doing it behind closed doors.

Hundreds of millions of secret dollars are pouring into congressional and state races in this election cycle. The Koch brothers (whose personal fortunes grew by $5 billion last year) appear to be behind some of it, Karl Rove has rounded up other multimillionaires to fund right-wing candidates, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is funneling corporate dollars from around the world into congressional races, and Rupert Murdoch is evidently spending heavily.

No one knows for sure where this flood of money is coming from because it's all secret.

But you can safely assume its purpose is not to help America's stranded middle class, working class, and poor. It's to pad the nests of the rich, stop all reform, and deregulate big corporations and Wall Street -- already more powerful than since the late 19th century when the lackeys of robber barons literally deposited sacks of cash on the desks of friendly legislators.

Credit the Supreme Court's grotesque decision in Citizens United vs. the Federal ElectionCommission, which opened the floodgates. (Even though 8 of 9 members of the Court also held disclosure laws constitutional, the decision invited the creation of shadowy "nonprofits" that don't have to reveal anything.)

According to FEC data, only 32 percent of groups paying for election ads are disclosing the names of their donors. By comparison, in the 2006 midterm, 97 percent disclosed; in 2008, almost half disclosed.

 

More:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/the-secret-bigmoney-takeo_b_754938.html

   Read More »

I hope you all get a chance to read Michael Moore's great piece on Huffingtonpost today, in which he shares prescription for victory, and argues for five things Democrats can do to win in November

He then asks his fellow democrats to contribute their own ideas, so I thought I'd share mine here. Feel free to add your own, or go over to Huffingtonpost and share them with Michael Moore, too.

Voters like candidates who stand for their values, as opposed to those who waffle on them. Therefore, Democrats should stand proud for the historic achievements they made in 2 short years, despite the GOP obstructing a record number of bills.

Democrats have passed smart, moral, and financially sound reforms.

Stand proud for the Affordable Care Act, which ended discrimination for preexisting conditions, and covered millions of uninsured Americans, all while remaining budget neutral.

They should be proud of Financial Reform, which prevents another collapse like the one we had in 2008, by creating a new market for derivatives trading, updating regulations, and creating a consumer watchdog agency to protect us against unfair business practices.

Democrats should be proud of the Recovery Act, which stopped the recession, while at the same time cutting taxes for working Americans to the lowest point in over 50 years.

They should speak out about the 100 billion investment in private green tech sector growth, which will lead to a renewal of our American manufacturing infrastructure and will put America on the leading edge of the coming green economic boom.

The Democrats have shown vision, as opposed to the other party which just stands there and says no.

Democrats should be proud of making that vision a possibility.

They turned this country in a new direction, and opened the door to a brighter future.

In November, we need to get out the vote and walk through that open door.

What makes me glad: Electing a democrat president after years of suffering under republican rule.

What makes me sad: people who get mad at this president because he's not as perfect as they wanted.

What makes me glad: The historic reforms enacted by this president:

- Health Insurance Reform (an end to pre-existing conditions, covering millions of children).

- Financial Reform (requiring the trading of derivatives on an open exchanges so we won't repeat the crash of 2008).

- The historic investment of over 100 billion dollars in a new energy economy for America (putting our manufacturing infrastructure on the road to renewal, and investing in American jobs in the fastest growing sector of our economy).

What makes me sad: when people can't see the forest for the trees, when they complain that this president is "just like everyone else," and when they can't recognize the great progress we've made in the last 18 months.

What makes me glad: The GOP is so fragmented, we could have actually *gained* in the November elections. And there's a chance we still can.

What makes me sad: That my fellow Democrats don't know how to play as a team, aren't willing to build a coalition, and can't compromise with each other for the greater good.

People. If we don't get our act together in the next six weeks, we stand a chance to lose EVERYTHING we worked so hard for.

Don't give up! Don't lose hope! Real change takes time and work. Democrats have opened the door and turned our country in the right direction. Its up to us to stay on the path and take a step through that open door into the brighter future that awaits!

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

A Political Rule of Thumb:

Trying to find a truly honest politician is like searching for a homosexual who's not gay.


Eric L. Wattree

In the historic American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Democrats enacted the largest investment ever in Green Energy. This investment is pumping billions of dollars into one of the strongest areas of our economy. Shortly after President Obama passed the Recovery Act, China - recognizing the economic potential of a Green Tech Boom - invested a similar amount of money in their own Green Tech sectors.

The Green Tech sector was the last to be hit by the Recession, and the first to recover. Today, new Wind Turbine jobs outnumber new Coal Mining jobs. These are private sector jobs, people. American manufacturing jobs, turning shuttered factories into wind energy, and high-tech battery manufacturers.

These investments will not only revitalize our economy, but will also renew our American manufacturing infrastructure. Its time we started exporting American ingenuity once again, and its Democrats who have led the charge on this issue!

This is the future of our Economy, and Democrats have seen it, and led the way. They have seized this moment and turned our country in the right direction, after years of misguided and out-dated policies.

We have acted boldly in turning the page toward a clean energy future, and a freedom from foreign oil. It might not happen overnight, but a vast majority of the American people believe it *should* happen soon. We cannot turn back now.

But let's be clear: renewing our infrastructure through advancements in Green Tech, means big change for the powerful forces who stand to lose in the new energy economy. Change for the greater good, does not mean everybody always wins. There are entrenched interests who benefit from the way things are, even if our country suffers as a result.

The powerful forces standing in the way of Change have not stood idly by - they see the November campaigns as a business investment, and with the supreme court's recent decision to allow corporations - some of them foreign - to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections, they are doing everything they can to prevent America from turning the page, and changing for the better.

These powerful interests are trying as hard as they can to make people fear the important changes our country needs to make. These are big changes that are having a profound effect on our people from every state, every region. The recent economic collapse has shaken people, shaken their confidence in our economy. The GOP - at the behest of powerful special interests - has taken advantage of people's fears. They seek to divide us, rather than unify us. While Democrats are focused on positive solutions, and have worked hard to turn the page toward a more hopeful future, our opponents have spread fear, anger, and their only solution is to repeal the progress we have already made.

We can't let fear prevent us from getting the job done. We all know it needs to be done, and someone has got to do it. We cannot turn back now. Finish the job, Democrats. Stand proud for the new path we have turned America on. The path that leads to economic prosperity, freedom from foreign oil, and a revitalized American manufacturing infrastructure.

Martin Luther King wrote:
Fear knocked on the door
Faith answered
There was no one there.

Over the last year and a half, Democrats have opened that door. The Republican Party stands in our way, trying to scare the American People from stepping through that door, into a brighter future. Our job as Democrats - from now until November - is to remind America that we opened the door, and to give them faith in the brighter future that awaits. In November, let's unify our country, and take a step through that door into a new century of responsibility and prosperity!

Recent news articles - including those on left leaning publications - have been marveling at the fact that Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally delivered a "Religious, not political message."

Really? Anyone who writes about politics and claims this event was more about religion than politics needs to have their head examined!

They are forgetting one of the most important things about politics: All politics is moral. This rally attempts to build a religious underpinning to Beck's radical political ideas.

It attempts to blanket his followers politics under the cloak of religion, much like the way the Taliban cloaks their radical politics under religion.

We know what these folks believe, by now there should be no question about it. They have radical ideas that subvert our constitution. They believe they are the only true Americans, and anyone who disagrees is to be treated like an enemy. They believe they are at war with anyone who disagrees with them. They believe only their ideas have validity, and they are willing to engage in extreme measures - such as armed revolt - to enforce their far right ideology.

So when Imam Beck and the former Republican vice presidential candidate stand before this crowd and talk about Christianity, it must be noted they are talking about a very specific kind of Christianity: it does not include you or me, or anyone else who takes a different view. It is no less than the beginning of a spiritual foundation from which to grow an American Christian Taliban.

"Not political?" Give me a break!

Dr. Musacco is a therapist and an organizational psychologist who worked for the United States Postal Service for thirty years:

Another USPS Workplace Tragedy
by
Dr. Steve Musacco
*
On the morning of June 2, 2009, a city letter carrier went to work and reportedly fatally shot himself in the head in the locker room at a postal facility in Gastonia, North Carolina. The Gaston Gazette online news report stated that the “Gastonia Police are investigating an apparent suicide this morning at the post office. . . . One of the employees is inside dead from a gunshot wound.”
*   Read More »

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

President Obama: Why Are You Allowing Your Postmaster General to Run a Plantation? The United States Postal Service is running a latter-day plantation. It's been documented by members of congress, and arbitrators, that the postal service is routinely falsifying employee clock rings, subjecting its employees to harassment, intimidation, and abuse, and forcing many of its employees to work between four and six hours a day without pay. Then, even though the Inspector General has documentation of the commission of a federal crimes in hand, the perpetrators are being allowed to walk away with impunity, and even being promoted.

Why are you allowing this to happen, Mr. President? Don't you know that this sort of thing more than offset all the good that you're trying to do? While the corporate media hasn't taken an interest in this issue yet, this kind of blatant worker abuse isn't taking place in a vacuum. The United States Postal Service is the second largest civilian employer in America. It employs over 600,000 people, and they all know what you're allowing to happen to them, and so do their family and friends. That's a lot of people - and a lot of votes.

   Read More »

IS WALL STREET INVESTING IN THE SABOTAGE OF AMERICA?

Consider the following question: Is it possible that Wall Street is investing in the sabotage of America?

Even after the American people saved Wall Street from a self-inflicted wound to the tune of $800 billion dollars, now that they're back on their feet, and back to passing themselves out obscenely unconscionable bonuses even as America starves, why are they refusing to show their appreciation to the American people by investing in American jobs - or at the very least, making loans to small businesses?   Read More »

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

The "Me-First" Attitude of American Politicians is Trashing the U.S. Constitution

The founding fathers understood the dangers of vacillating public sentiment, so they established the United States Constitution to protect America from the ebb and flow of public opinion. The Constitution was designed to set in place a set of American values from which the nation should never deviate in response to public sentiment.

But the GOP and the Democratic Party are working hand-in-hand to undermine those standards - first, the GOP creates a toxic political environment to circumvent the people's common sense, then instead of defending the Constitution, the weak-kneed Democratic Party simply goes along in order to protect their political interest. This unholy alliance has been going on for nearly forty years now, and America has been racing downhill every since. The primary victim of this unholy alliance, is the rule of law - the very foundation of the Constitution.   Read More »

BENEATH THE SPIN · ERIC L. WATTREE

The Religious Right: A Threat to America (Reprise)

When I became of age one of the first things I did was to reassess all of my previous beliefs and attitudes. Thereafter, I discarded as invalid anything that didn't stand up to logical and objective scrutiny, because even at that young age, I'd lived long enough to recognize that most of the problems in this world are a direct result of our failure to re-examine our illogical views of reality. Most religious zealots not only fail to go through that process, but refuse to as a matter of religious doctrine. It is due to that kind of zealotry, along with their doctrinal obligation against even considering the fact that they just might be zealots, that makes the religious right a clear and present danger to both the United States, and the world. Now, I don't have anything against religious people, per se - I was raised by Christians, and they were wonderful and loving people. In fact, I'm very spiritual myself. But if you show me a man who believes that Moses parted the Red Sea, I'll show you a man whose logical assessment of reality cannot be relied upon.

   Read More »