Bernie Sanders Explains How Terrorism is Fueled by Climate Change

Thinking of installing a Rooftop Solar Array. Why can't I make more electricity than I use?

President Obama and Bill Nye Talk Science and Politics

Netroots Nation 2013 LIVE VIDEO

Vint Cerf, the Grateful Dead, and Flying Sea Anemones

"I am not a happy camper when I see the gridlock and I see the polarization and I see the increasing ad hominem character of what should be a deliberation leading to compromise. And I'm not fully capable of analyzing why that's all happening but it is inhibiting rational discourse. In my world cooperation and collaboration is very important because the kinds of things that we do are so signifigantly hard that you need a lot of help and you need people working together. It only works if they respect each others opinions and when they disagree it isn't because the other guy is stupid it's because the other guy is seeing it differently and may or may not be able to justify the position, but you listen and debate and discuss and persuade and try to come to some rational conclusion, believing that everyone's intent is positive and aligned. What we see in the current political atmosphere is that intent is not aligned at all."
  ~Vint Cerf

Listen to the rest of this phenomenal interview with Andrea Seabrook on one of my new favorite podcasts - DecodeDC.



If you have an hour and half to spare the following video discussion from the 2012 World Science Festival panel "Internet Everywhere" will blow your mind. If it doesn't blow your mind please contact me (see sidebar). Now, prepare yourself to see Vint Cirf on camera in all his dapper glory.



Video streaming by Ustream

Congressman - evolution and bing bang "lies from the pit of Hell!"

Rep. Paul Broun (R-Georgia) is seen in the video below saying that evolution, embryology, and the big bang are “lies straight from the pit of Hell”. The scariest part of this is that he is a current member of the Science Committee of the House of Representatives! No wonder we are lagging international in science education. We have young earth creationists operating at the upper echelons of our federal government!

Night Skies - Yosemite

Obama v. Romney: On Science

In my opinion, the most important debate in this presidential election will not be televised but rather is available RIGHT NOW to read in print at this website - sciencedebate.org Here is an example question and response from each respective candidate in parallel. Climate Change. The Earth’s climate is changing and there is concern about the potentially adverse effects of these changes on life on the planet. What is your position on cap-and-trade, carbon taxes, and other policies proposed to address global climate change—and what steps can we take to improve our ability to tackle challenges like climate change that cross national boundaries?
Barack Obama: Climate change is the one of the biggest issues of this generation, and we have to meet this challenge by driving smart policies that lead to greater growth in clean energy generation and result in a range of economic and social benefits. Since taking office I have established historic standards limiting greenhouse gas emissions from our vehicles for the first time in history. My administration has made unprecedented investments in clean energy, proposed the first-ever carbon pollution limits for new fossil-fuel-fired power plants and reduced carbon emissions within the Federal Government. Since I took office, the U.S. is importing an average of 3 million fewer barrels of oil every day, and our dependence on foreign oil is at a 20-year low. We are also showing international leadership on climate change, reaching historic agreements to set emission limits in unison with all major developed and developing nations. There is still more to be done to address this global problem. I will continue efforts to reduce our dependence on oil and lower our greenhouse gas emissions while creating an economy built to last.		Mitt Romney: I am not a scientist myself, but my best assessment of the data is that the world is getting warmer, that human activity contributes to that warming, and that policymakers should therefore consider the risk of negative consequences. However, there remains a lack of scientific consensus on the issue — on the extent of the warming, the extent of the human contribution, and the severity of the risk — and I believe we must support continued debate and investigation within the scientific community. Ultimately, the science is an input to the public policy decision; it does not dictate a particular policy response. President Obama has taken the view that if global warming is occurring, the American response must be to slash carbon dioxide emissions by imposing enormous costs on the U.S. economy. First he tried a massive cap-and-trade bill that would have devastated U.S. industry. When that approach was rejected by Congress, he declared his intention to pursue the same course on his own and proceeded through his EPA to impose rules that will bankrupt the coal industry. Nowhere along the way has the President indicated what actual results his approach would achieve — and with good reason. The reality is that the problem is called Global Warming, not America Warming. China long ago passed America as the leading emitter of greenhouse gases. Developed world emissions have leveled off while developing world emissions continue to grow rapidly, and developing nations have no interest in accepting economic constraints to change that dynamic. In this context, the primary effect of unilateral action by the U.S. to impose costs on its own emissions will be to shift industrial activity overseas to nations whose industrial processes are more emissions-intensive and less environmentally friendly. That result may make environmentalists feel better, but it will not better the environment. So I oppose steps like a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system that would handicap the American economy and drive manufacturing jobs away, all without actually addressing the underlying problem. Economic growth and technological innovation, not economy-suppressing regulation, is the key to environmental protection in the long run. So I believe we should pursue what I call a “No Regrets” policy — steps that will lead to lower emissions, but that will benefit America regardless of whether the risks of global warming materialize and regardless of whether other nations take effective action. For instance, I support robust government funding for research on efficient, low-emissions technologies that will maintain American leadership in emerging industries. And I believe the federal government must significantly streamline the regulatory framework for the deployment of new energy technologies, including a new wave of investment in nuclear power. These steps will strengthen American industry, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and produce the economically-attractive technologies that developing nations must have access to if they are to achieve the reductions in their own emissions that will be necessary to address what is a global issue.

Social Injustice: Chris Hedges talks with Bill Moyers

What is a Sweat Lodge? Rick Two Dogs explains

The August 2012 issue of National Geographic magazine is dedicated to telling the story of the Oglala Lakota who live on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

The reports from the reservation are both tragic and uplifting.

It is of special significance to me as my father tells me I am 1/16th Oglala Lakota myself. My great-great grandmother lived near Fort Wayne Indiana in the late 1800s. She was named Pamela Caldwell and was full-blooded Oglala Lakota. I have confirmed this through the census records.  As a severely diluted mixed-blood mostly European-American I feel a strange mix of guilt and pride as I observe the living conditions of distant relatives.

Find many more contemporary Lakota stories here.

Participate in Government!

Please join me in signing this petition to the White House urging congress to remove tax-exempt status from politically engaged churches. If churches want a say in government they'd better pay into it like the rest of us! I think we should go further and request that all churches relinquish their tax exempt status but this would be a big step anyway.  

Abound Solar - Colorado Company Goes Belly-Up

Abound Solar, a Colorado manufacturer of thin-film solar cells went under this week. Pressure from inexpensive Chinese products combined with poor management drove a promising company out of business in just two years.

The company spun-off research done at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO. Before re-branding itself as "Abound Solar" the company was called AVA Solar. AVA or air-vacuum-air, representing the unique assembly method used. 

The thin-film cadmium-tellurium photovoltaic cells produced by the company were the brainchild of Dr. W.S. Sampath. I wrote optimistically about Dr. Sampath and the company when they first announced their business plan. See this post for a more extensive background of the company.

I had hoped Abound...

Charter Schools - Opinion

By Kristopher Hite

When I say I do not like charter schools I mean it. I mean it because I see their proliferation as a shift towards privatization in general. I perceive privatization as an all-encompassing ideological philosophy of many politicians; Margaret Spellings, George W. Bush, and Donald Rumsfeld to name a few. I agree with the Democrats who were outraged at W for slipping in "school vouchers" to his last re-signings of No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

From the Washington Post -

"Democrats in Congress assailed the plan -- which also would allow low-performing schools to override union contracts or become charter schools despite state laws limiting their creation -- and expressed concern that the politically charged proposals could delay the reauthorization, which is scheduled for this year." ~ from July 2007. 

I see school vouchers as a more extreme version of charter schools - a move away from public schooling as traditionally understood. While reading about NCLB I came across several provisions of the act leading to increased number of charter schools.

"A fifth year of failure results in planning to restructure the entire school; the plan is implemented if the school fails to hit its AYP targets for the sixth year in a row. Common options include closing the school, turning the school into a charter school, hiring a private company to run the school, or asking the state office of education to run the school directly."

It seems as though all roads out of NCLB lead to a privatized world which upsets me. To me, many of the most powerful Republicans somehow swoon over the teachings of a man with whom I vehemently disagree - Milton Friedman.

From the school voucher wiki -

 "Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman argued for the modern concept of vouchers in the 1950s, stating that competition would improve schools and cost efficiency. The view further gained popularity with the 1980 TV broadcast of Friedman's series Free to Choose for which volume 6 was devoted entirely to promoting "educational freedom" through programs like school vouchers. In some Southern states during the 1960s, school vouchers were used as a method of perpetuating segregation. In a few instances, public schools were closed outright and vouchers were issued to parents. The vouchers, in many cases, were only good at privately segregated schools, known as segregation academies. Today, all modern voucher programs prohibit racial discrimination."

This brings me full circle to my stance on charter schools vouchers and NCLB in general. I perceive NCLB as a well intentioned act of congress carrying a Trojan horse filled with little pro-privatization Milton Friedman time-bombs. I see these privatization ideals as detrimental to communities throughout our educated democracy.

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James Inhofe and Rachel Maddow

I love how Inhofe refuses to answer any of her questions. The lack of synthesis in his brain is baffling. It is as if republicans have shut off their ability to have fruitful discourse.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

"Respect" is a fiction for those in power

Illinois congressman Bobby Rush shows us how stupid "respect for respect's sake" really is.

The parents of Trayvon Martin react to Bobby Rush being kicked-off the house floor.