verhaftik

Thank God. This is the best news I've heard in a very long time. Congress is waking up to the responsibility the media has to educating the public and emphasizing debate in a balanced manner.

IMO, MSM is directly responsible for the indescribable ignorance of the American public, whom they supposedly serve to enlighten. This is a crucial step and one that moves the US into competition with the populous in other 1st world countries. Compare Fox, CNN, et al websites to that of BBC News. The difference speaks for itself.

Finally, as a native Australian, let me assure you, Murdoch was considered a joke. As for his Australian "newspapers" -- let's just say the front page always sported a large picture of a scantily clad a woman in a bikini, everyday. Go ahead, look for some old digital files of Australian newspapers front pages from the 1970s and 1980s. That is the same Murdoch that is now attempting to take over the WSJ and other MSM. I couldn't decide whether to laugh (scoff) or cry when I heard that.

Thank God Congress has now woken up to what people need and demand. Real, intelligent, well rounded news. posted 05/16/2008 at 16:50:47

I have not decided if I'll vote Repub or Democrat. McCain's straight and HONEST answer to this question, however, will help me determine how he feels about his wife, and women in general.
Thus, I want the answer to the question, damnit.

What disgusts me is that he allegedly said the word and meant it. Not that we want that claim verified.
Why is this so difficult for people to understand?

If it is true, I'll be damned if I have a person who call(s)/ed their wife a c**t and a trollop - or who self-servingly dodges the question - as my President. I would imagine any thinking person would agree. posted 05/02/2008 at 14:18:01

Alright, I see once again there's a battle of the absurd going on. So how about we get some facts out there that cannot be twisted or manipulated?

From the link that HumeSkeptic gave us at 3:13 pm today (http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/globalchange/keeling_curve/01.html), I quote:

"when trees leaf out and grasslands and farmlands green, the carbon dioxide in the air decreases, reflecting the uptake from photosynthesis."

We can all agree that the overall foliage on the planet is decreasing, *due to humans* - correct?
(modern day development and all that?)

Then let's take a guess as to what happens to the CO2 levels?

(I'll pause for the oil lobby lawyers who are trying to reread this a few times.)

Answer: CO2 levels rise. And rise. And rise.
Why? No plants to reabsorb the CO2. (via photosynthesis)

It's basic science. Climatologists cannot refute it. No one can.
So why don't you lobbyists, who realized you are on the wrong side of the problem,
and yet are scrambling to pay off your student loans, Lexus, or ex-wife
get with the goddamn program?

Unless you feel like replanting the earth, global warming is here in a big way. Quasi-scientific conjectures can be twisted to accommodate the largest benefactor. But true science doesn't lie, friends. posted 04/12/2008 at 20:14:43

I appreciate what you said in your post. I, however, was responding to Ms. Samsami's conveniently vague request for "statements and actions that reflect American support for democracy groups that are pressing for change inside Iran." I responded by using details she presented, and then echoed other posters' sentiments that democracy is the path of the individuals who are repressed. And according to you, like Ms. Samsami, the oppressors are the male dominated Iranian gvt construct.

Be careful though. I stated that women were being used as breeders (by paraphrasing Ms. Samsami). But no where did I state they were beyond the intellectual capacity of one.

Mostly, please notice that my points were the following: if the US intervenes, it will be a mistake. And, I said nothing about covert assistance from the West. But I didn't think that was something that we should get into on a public message board.

The bottom line is: Iranian women will spearhead their freedom if they are willing. So, again, the challenge question is, are they? Are the educated women you mention willing to unite for those who aren't? If Iran is repressed by a regime of fundamentalist men, there's only one logical and worthy balance to that power: non-fundamentalist women. The two faces of a coin that coexist as one. That is what a democracy looks like. posted 04/11/2008 at 18:37:54

A country is only as free as it's most repressed person. Thus, if Iran wishes democracy, they must walk in the shoes of those countries who are now democratic. The repressed must reject the status quo / the accepted paradigm of the ruling party. Hence, in Iran, democracy will only prevail when Iranian women stand together and truly demand equality. Like others before them, it won't be without suffering. But can that suffering be any worse than what women already endure? As you state, most women in Iran are basically breeders, nothing more. Mere incubators for the next generation of the ruling populous (in Iran's case, the men). Therefore, it will be women suffering to claim their rights as human beings that yields democracy. That's is what happened in the US in the 1890s-1900s Sufferage Movement. Ghandi and Martin Luther King also galvanized the repressed to stand up for themselves. Sadly, it is the only way. The US will be used as pawns for any interventions we attempt. Even if those interventions are for once not grossly self-serving. Something tells me, Madam, that you already know all this, however. posted 04/11/2008 at 14:49:30

No opinion one way or the other on this, but purely for the sake of debate here, mate:
making those disparaging descriptions of men does not negate wanting to f**k your mother. Basically, the two do not have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, according to the Oedipal theory, those two kinds of statements from the same person seem to support the notion...as in kill your father-figure to fuck your mother.... Just a thought, mind you. Not saying it's true of course. I will state that your posting this response on the HuffPo seems, bizarre. Even more so, my commenting on it. I don't even read Rolling Stone. Have a nice day. posted 04/11/2008 at 13:00:30

Thank you much for these details, 23000Days.
I wasn't aware of how much energy these clean resources
could generate. Extremely encouraging. And, wave energy too, by God.
Keep up the excellent work & message. posted 04/06/2008 at 20:13:49

Americans - let's do basic science:

All *natural* things on earth that can be burned for fuel are basically made of hydrocarbons.
That means: plants, people, petroleum, ethanol, etc (see Wikipedia) are all hydrocarbons.
And when any hydrocarbon is burned, they release CO2.
The very same CO2 in greenhouse gases from burning oil.

Thus, if you burn oil hydrocarbons in your car engine, CO2 is made.
Burn ethanol hydrocarbons, CO2 is made.
Burn plants, people, cows, wheat, or any other damn thing on earth made of
hydrogen and carbon (hence "hydrocarbon"), CO2 is made.

Only wind or solar energy are the truly clean fuels. Meaning, they
are the only energy source known so far that generates zero CO2 emissions.

For those interested, here's the little formula:

CH + O2 + --> (produces) CO2 + H20

hydrocarbon(CH) + oxygen(O2) ----> (produces) CO2 + water(H20)

All science people know it. They didn't get it wrong.
The powerful Farming Lobby did -- looking for a way to
cash in on the biofuel (ethanol) boom.
They are the ones who pushed for biofuel/ethanol
as the savior for the oil crisis. Not scientists with a conscience.

Biofuels are like changing deck chairs on the Titanic.
They are useless to reducing global warming
because in the end, CO2 is *always* produced.

So, blame your Farm Lobby for the "biofuel miracle movement."
Better yet, blame Bush, since they are practically one in the same. posted 04/06/2008 at 19:34:44

aurelio-
The Kitchen Maintenance Union has preemptively issued a statement that any such application for membership by the Republican Party is hereby declined. posted 03/27/2008 at 03:02:36

Brilliant questions. Each one of them.
I'd like to know too. posted 03/27/2008 at 02:54:43