Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Good news on the automotive front

This is good news for America as well.

Introducing the Tesla S: It's electric, it's got great lines, and there's a waiting list a mile long

"Instead of a bulky transmission console between the driver’s seat and the passenger seat, there is a nice empty space for parking your briefcase or purse. Instead of analog dials, there is a 17-inch Wi-Fi touchscreen display that handles everything from the navigation system to your MP3 collection to the suspension control settings. On the version I tested, there aren’t even door handles—until you touch the spot where they should be, which prompts them to emerge like the wings of a Golden Snitch."


Yes, it's pricey. All innovations these days start out priced so only the wealthy can afford them. But that's temporary. Once the industry gets into gear the price will drop - and drop.


Bill

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Why Are So Many Bad Things Happening To America?

Why Are So Many Bad Things Happening To America? by Michael Snyder

An interesting summation of the desperate state of affairs in America today. One thing I don't understand is the ordering of the list - it should have WAR and DEBT at the top.

On the debt, this article is revealing, if anyone doesn't know yet:

Related: 27 Things That Every American Should Know About The National Debt

Related:Half Of American Households Hold 1 Percent Of Wealth by Dan Froomkin


Bill

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Glenn Greenwald: How America's Surveillance State Breeds Conformity and Fear

Glenn Greenwald: How America's Surveillance State Breeds Conformity and Fear

"Once the government is able to monitor everything we do and say, we will be unable to fight back."

This should be required reading for every American.


Wars Have Unpredictable and Dangerous Collateral Effects by Ivan Eland

"In conclusion, those who advocate using the Libyan episode as a future model for U.S. intervention, especially in Syria, have overlooked its harmful unintended consequences."

A brief history of the consequences of American meddling in the Middle East. As if we didn't already know, but Ivan Eland has a concise way of putting it.


Bill


Friday, July 6, 2012

Washington’s Militarized Mindset

Washington’s Militarized Mindset by Tom Engelhardt


"Militarization in this country is hardly a new phenomenon. It can be traced back decades, but the process hit warp speed in the post-9/11 years, even if the U.S. still lacks the classic look of a militarized society. Almost unnoticed has been an accompanying transformation of the mindset of Washington — what might be called the militarization of solutions.

If the institutions of American life and governance are increasingly militarized, then it shouldn’t be surprising that the problems facing the country are ever more often framed in militarized terms and that the only solutions considered are similarly militarized. This paucity of imagination, this constraining of what might be possible, seems especially evident in the Greater Middle East. "

Tom has some really interesting information and observations about the current state of affairs in a dozen or so Middle East countries. It reads like a scorecard for a very horrible game. It's almost unbelievable.


Why This Obsession With Iran? by Patrick J. Buchanan

"Comes the retort: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a certifiable fanatic who has threatened to wipe Israel off the map. He cannot be allowed to get anywhere near a nuclear weapon.

Yet whatever Ahmadinejad said years ago, and that remains in dispute, he does not control the military, he does not decide on war, and he leaves the presidency next July and heads back to academia.

Is America afraid of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?

Where, then, is the mortal threat to justify the U.S. preparations for war with Iran described in the national press this week? "


This stuff is just plain ordinary common sense, and just have to believe most Americans feel this way. I think most people just feel helpless to do anything about it. But you can do something. Talk with your family, friends, relatives, the barber, anyone who will listen. Write blogs or reader responses to articles. Follow alternate websites. Of course you or I aren't going to make a difference, but if millions of people decide they've had enough we can get the changes we need (which is an election system that cuts down the influence of money dramatically. It can be done)


Bill