Friedmann has found his issue

He is just hammering away, hammering away at the alternative, renewable energy grid that would bring the US out of its doldrums. No mercy. I remember being annoyed with good ol TF for some of his views on globalization and war in the middle east, but he's got this one nailed. his issue is important and his thoughts are clear: every column rips into the opposition and drops knowledge on what we can do. props.

speaking of getting ripped (i know i link to the NYT a lot, but hey, they got good stuff these days), McCain gets the proverbial "second orifice" from Frank Rich in this one. I laffed pretty hard at some of the statements .. not meant to be that funny, but you know there was more behind the statement that Rich left out cuz he ain't offensive.

Clean Energy

Friedmann has been hammering away at this issue for the past few weeks. I think the nation is ready for a Kennedy-style mission to develop clean energy. talk about killing a flock of crows with one stone:

A US developed clean energy alternative to oil would revamp the economy, create jobs, remove the need to kill and occupy Arabs, remove the dagger from the throat of the environment and bring the nation back into the spotlight as a beacon rather than a dark force of war and imperialism. If yer American, get to the phones and holla at your worthless representatives and give them something worthwhile to do.

The Most High

Next time they ask you what the deal is, just be like ......

Surprise! Beijing is a polluted city!

Sigh. The truth the world has refused to confront always comes out in the end, be it war for oil, Bush is a fool, we need alternative energy or China is polluted ...

it funny how long it takes before people admit the truth to themselves. I think it takes at least three large stories over several months supported by small arms fire in the form of articles such as this one right here ...

and it looks like Friedman has been reading my blog (naturally) cuz he is talking about the Green Society ... bout time. How long will it take before pigmen like Karl "Hi, I am a Fascist" Rove wake up and smell the muffler exhaust?

Wandering Blind

I can't read my blog right now, but that might end. It has been a common occurrence since I started this thing. Sometimes my proxy works, sometime it dont.

So here is a bit of an update on the "they tearin down my house" saga:

My neighbors and I had a powwow today and learned a lot about each other. They have lived in this village for 100 years. They were born here, they raised kids here, they love it here. They understand the desire of the urban folk for the life that they already have. They understand perfectly well the powers that put development in motion: personal greed and inter-agency corruption. They understand also that they are entiteled to some real money and a real chance at a new life.

But they also know that the city presents nothing to the first-timer. Many of them will struggle for work, the parents will be away -- maybe half-way across the country in some factory -- and the kids will be struggling to make it in the city schools.

What we are seeing is the culmination of a century-long tug-of-war between the people and the government for the land they live in. After the CCP won the wars against the Japanese and the Nationalists, they passed the land out amongst the farmers and workers that supported them, and thereby gained their loyalty. Ten years later, they took it back during the Great Leap Forward and made the land "state property" -- whatever that means. They gave it back again after the Cultural Revolution to calm the seething masses who had torn about the country in Mao's last years. And now .. now they are doing it again.

But this time is different. This time the farmers are moving to the city for good. To become the slaves of the machine that will bring China the glory we all talk about in all the media specials that grace magazines and papers around the world. This new development mirrors and warps that which we have experienced in the West.

In America it was white flight, now gentrification. Here it is the same. The rich head to the complexes in the suburbs, the poor head into the cities to work. Or migrate.

Anyway.

So this is what is going on, all over the world and with extreme prejudice in this country. If one fights against the state several things happen:

The state divides and conquers with bribes. The state terrorizes by shutting off utilities, sending in police and perhaps, if needed, the thugs. The state persuades with propaganda and appeals to patriotism and sacrifice for an improved future.

Maybe they are right. In America, we are now seeing the "final"stages of this circle of movement between the city and the country. Cities in America are now going green, as much as is possible. The people, my people, are demanding it. Perhaps the natural cycle in China will lead in the same direction. In fact, we can already see tinges of it here and there. Lip service, yet, but nevertheless ...

Here, the people have no rights, no power, no voice. They are thrown off and are thankful for the crumbs they get. How is this any different from what Americans experienced throughout the early years of last century and Europeans up until after the War?

If there is no difference and we can see patterns emerge, what can we do, what have we learned, what can we change ... ?

The questions would be then: what did we lose the first few times around?

Or should we just peer into China -- our time-warped mirror -- and do what we can in our own garden now, to atone for the things we did before.

holla at me

does anyone out there work with alternative fuels/renewable energy on a large scale -- research, investment, development, promotion over breakfast at the sunny side up on lyndale can ya feel me ???

i bet there are at least five peeps reading this. anyway. this story and others like it have me very excited and optimistic. i'm tellin you ... we all goin green.

here is a story that's pretty funny: China and India being "more green" than the US. Oh my Lord is that hilarious. but its an interesting point. China and India are polluted nations and its getting worse. but they head to open air markets for their food and ride bikes. it has to do with economic choices rather than green choices. If everyone in China could get a car, they would.

The fusion of economic choices with environmental choices can create a very fine society: making green living desirable because it represents modernity, consciousness and conjures up images of sci-fi Utopias ....

I wish i knew more. so holla at a ninja!

orange seeds in the ashtray

Yet another of the three peeps peepin this blog, who refuses to answer me in this blog. Of course, copy and paste is my faithful slave.

"re: your words: "i was talking with some homies yesterday about what the most fantastic future imaginable would be. I said it would be the actual fruition of a next-era society that has gone through a natural progression from industrial to technological to service to hi-tech service and to a green society.

i will be interested to talk to you about this topic once you get to p-town and you see the wonderful bubble we live in here. it's great because you see the environmental ideas in action, and get to know people who really care about this stuff enough to do more than pontificate. on the other hand -- living in a bubble does have its drawbacks. when the president (lower case "p") was elected the first time, we here in oregon thought there was no fucking way it was going to happen. but the rest of the country is slower in acting and reacting to change/atrocities... and sometimes you forget to look backward -- when you are at the head of the pack. also, there are issues with apathy that arise here, because again, when you live in world where "green" was a buzzword long before it was made into a marketing brand by cnn and the rest... you sometimes forget that more work needs to be done. you begin to ease into a life of riding bike and munching on your homegrown food (& other green treats), buying into the sustainable power grid to fuel your computer addiction... thinking that everyone else is doing the same. you forget for perhaps a minute that to exact real change in this world you must continue to push the envelope -- so the spectrum gets wide enough that the middle has pulled over toward your side a little bit more. if fact, you might forget that there is a middle at all. (i think i just thought of another topic for my own blog, thank you!) but we are so blessed here, in so many ways. we are showing the world what is possible, and i will love to share it with you when you arrive."

the spikeman mule

so yo Obama hit back with a speech that was exactly what I had been thinking and arguing in a few forums and blogs. The NYT seems to be helping out as much as possible. we shall see.

i was talking with some homies yesterday about what the most fantastic future imaginable would be. I said it would be the actual fruition of a next-era society that has gone through a natural progression from industrial to technological to service to hi-tech service and to a green society.

By green society i mean a society that focuses on a standard of living that emphasizes longevity. So food, water and housing would be geared towards the natural and sustainable. the environment would be a community cause of high priority. Next generation fuel sources would be commonplace.

Now this wouldn't be some elven utopia with misty forests, but I think in the US we are in a good position to try it out. The first thing to happen would be the full scale support of alternative energy sources in terms of capital investment in alternative energy companies and startups. I believe this is already beginning. when these projects eventually start spitting out good, profitable marketable ideas, the ball really gets rolling.

A good fuel source will most likely come from the industry (oil, auto) that we have now, so i believe one of the requirements would be seamless integration -- or easy integration -- with existing fuel distribution and so on ... but it would begin to happen and once it took hold as a viable, and for the bankers profitable, alternative ("it" being "alternative fuel source X" ... feel free to spice up this blog with facts) to oil and gas, the rest of the world would eventually need the technology, or at the very least the product, themselves. Until they created their own better versions. I am sure the Germans are thinking up something now with their partners in Tokyo.

This technological breakthrough would usher in a new renaissance. just as radio, tv and the computer did. and the clock i suppose and other important things like the compass and the gatling gun.

a clean renewable alternative energy source would solve many many conflicts right off of the bat. well, i am sure the powers with AFS-X would naturally play power games with those that do not, but if AFS-X is renewable ... well ... maybe you are getting the picture.

And so to the blunt rounded nub:

Americans who fear the end of the American Century should consider the lessons of history. Change is the only solution for their woes. Obama does not wave a wand and solve problems, but it is the symbolic power of an historic change that invigorates and empowers regular everyday normal guys like me. A motivated nation can put men on the moon -- these neo-cons don't realize the nationalist potential latent in the placard waving Obama supporter with dreads and rizlas. If they really want to fulfill the Project for a New American Century, they should ignore the oil of the Arabs and focus on AFS-X, the super tech waiting to be found in the weedy minds of their own American youth.

Lord if they only remembered what they (they being They) have in the people of the USA. A vast pool. And these fools are letting our pool get all scummy and neglected, with three-legged plastic chairs and mold on the walls, and running off other to peoples' pools and peeing in em. Thinking that if they pee enough, the people will let them swim there forever. Shit aint right.

You know the US could be MUCH cooler. Imagine like a bomb tourism industry focused on vast regions of natural beauty, adventure travel and so on. There aren't too many int'l backpackers making it to the US. We need more exposure.

Subsidize trans-oceanic flights, not gun factories!