BP In The News

Today I heard that BP filed two separate cases regarding their Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. One was challenging the competency and thoroughness of the person put in charge of the claims made against them. It seems the the pot of money established ran out, or is about to and only a small fraction of the injured parties have had their cases reviewed. Their claim is that since the money ran out so quickly, depleting the money that they were fined and had allocated for "clean up", that there must be some mistake.

They have also made the case for not being required to pay any additional costs toward the satisfaction of claimants against them. They refuse to pay additional fines or levies because as they see it, they have done their part. Remember all those commercials we have been seeing about how great life is again along the coast? Well, the corporate leaders have said in no uncertain terms that they will pay no more, even though the fines imposed upon them represent their profits over a time period, which was also in the news today, of 23 seconds.

My personal pledge is to never, ever spend another dime on products that come from their stores and if there is any way to stop using their products entirely, I'm going to do it. I have been driving my car as little as possible, riding my bike a lot more and walking to place I used to drive to, but until and unless we put these corporados on a strict financial diet, consisting of NO MORE of our money, they will continue to flaunt their immense fortunes, buy the most expensive lawyers and shirk all actions becoming of responible corporate citizens. These were the people who sucked up as much government money as possible when the corporate welfare was flowing for research and development of solar, wind and other alternative energy sources.

Now they have nothing to show for it but a lot of over paid executives who can regurgitate twenty year old data. We the people are left with the interest we pay on the loans that our own government took out to enrich the corporate elite during the economic downturn and they want to reestablish the gravy train as soon as possible so they don't have to do any real work, just produce more high end commercials claiming what great corporate citizens they are and how they have our best interest in mind. We can continue

Lets all think about that for the next twenty-three seconds. Now, let us look at who has been.destroying-gulf-oil-evidence. We can continue allowing corporations to break the law, destroy the environment and to cripple our chances at survival only so long. I have tasted gulf shrimp that tasted like petroleum. I never want to do that again. If we do not stand up soon, our children will have good reason to hate us. What will the world be like when no shrimp are good to eat? Will they still be making commercials that try to convince us that they are doing their best for us?

Please give what you can to help me continue to bring you this blog. The hours I spend are a labor of love. Green energy as the Rainbow Family call it always helps to keep spinnin' the wheel. I promise not to trash the Earth with it and I sure as hell won't use it to defend wrongdoing or obscuring the truth. We are one. As the revolutionaries have said for ages, we must truly stand together or we will all hang separately.

Republicans Stymie Universal Health Care

Today, Republicans invoked a rarely used procedural dodge to subvert Universal Health care in The United States. They forced the plan, all seven-hundred and some odd pages to be read out loud into the record. Developed by an independent congress person, this document was the best chance American Citizens had for comprehensive Health Care Reform that would protect individuals from the extractive subsidies of a "business as usual" approach to our out of control disease care system. It would have allowed every American to sign up for a medicare-like system in which the sheer number of those enrolled would drive down costs and increase access to services.

Thanks, we really need you (mostly rich, white) guys looking out for our right to no care. We need to shout from the rooftops about the continuing subsidy of large drug companies, insurance companies, and a delivery system that results in outcomes worse than Nigeria and Sierra Leone. If there were ever as reason to think that Republicans were on the ropes, this would be it! The only people afraid of universal coverage are those who are counting on the funds from ultra-wealthy lobbies to get re-elected. Good heavens, when will they learn, the most important part of their job is to represent us. The finger of the average politician, rather than being on the pulse of public will and opinion, is on the speed dial button of their largest donors!

It is criminal that the same representative that proposed the new legislation had to withdraw the proposal because of the amount of time that would be wasted reading the whole document out loud. I guess that most Republicans don't like to read. If we are to regain our place as a well-respected player on the world stage, we need to act like reasonable and compassionate people rather than thugs and poor losers. We voted the Republicans out of both the White House and Congress on purpose. They led us through a time that saw the fastest run up in inequality in the distribution of wealth that has ever occurred on the planet, and jeopardized the world economy because of the unequaled greed exhibited by a few thousand people who are making over one billion dollars per year.

What Be the Rewards?

A little over two years ago, I purchased a solar panel. It is the most low tech device that I know of. Imagine a large box low and flat, like the shirt boxes that will be found under the Christmas Tree in a few days. Of course, mine is larger, (seven feet by twenty) and air tight, except for a small inlet and a small outlet. The side of the box that faces South is covered with fiberglass, relatively clear. The rest of the box is covered with insulation. People who sell more high tech devices often call this type of collector "Scorched Air" because it removes air from the house, warms it up, and brings it back into the living space. Inside the box is a bi-metal thermostat that automatically turns on the fan that blows air into the device when the temperature inside the box reaches a predetermined temperature. To keep cold air from cycling back into the house when the fan stops, two automatic dampers close when the fan is off.

Yesterday, I spent a few minutes brushing the snow off the panel and was rewarded by the soothing hum of the fan. Even though our high temp was only twelve degrees, the panel was able to bring one-hundred degree air into the house. Warmed by the sun, powered by a twenty-two watt squirrel cage fan. The entire system paid itself off in under two years. In year one, the panel provided about twenty percent of the home's heat budget. Now, due to creatively changing just a couple things, the panel is making up about forty percent of our heating needs. Rather than using unheated basement air and pressurizing the living space as I did at first, we now use air from the living space to feed the panel, increasing the efficiency and increasing the hours that the fan runs each day.

I am saving money that would otherwise be spent on energy, but this is not what makes me happiest. Knowing that with no major upkeep, this panel should last another thirty years or more makes me feel pretty good. Keeping the place comfortable without burdening the furnace feels pretty good as well. My favorite part is knowing that the sun really will come out tomorrow. During the coldest spells we get during the winter, it is usually crystal clear and the panel works all day long. In the spring and early fall, we use the extra dry and warm air to dry clothes, veggies and herbs. When it gets too hot in the house, we just unplug the entire system.

The most curious thing is that this whole system was created back in the early seventies and has been providing heat ever since. I bought the system used when trees grew up in front of the panel for a second time. The former owner installed it outside his home that was in a suburban area. When trees grew too large to let the sunshine in, he moved to a different home further out in the suburbs. Trees there grew up there too and shaded the panel again, so I bought the thirty-five year old system for about what it cost to build back in the seventies. Where I placed it, in an older neighborhood, the trees are all mature, and there is still plenty of sun, so I won't have the problems that he did.

Why do we continue to deny the fact that solar is a good way to go? Why is the focus on producing electricity, which is more difficult and expensive? I am stumped by the inability of people to see the benefit that would come from requiring similar systems on all new construction in areas that need heat in the winter.

While our elected officials talk about making progress toward energy efficiency, hoping for a seventeen percent reduction in energy use over the next two decades, or by increasing efficiency over the next generation, I have done more than twice as much with virtually no funding, in less than two months. Those who make their money on things staying the same will never get behind the changes that will require them to live on less, or to re-educate themselves. Corporados want to talk about costs, the displacement, the turmoil that they hype as the "result" of doing the right thing. My belief is that doing things wrong because they benefit business as usual is both short-sighted and irresponsible. The workers that will be displaced when we change our goal to sustainability will have to get jobs that support and enhance our planet, and her people, rather than raping it, and them. No talking heads have cogent arguments for environmental degradation. The "powers that be" are, and have always been afraid of change. We must drag them kicking and screaming into the future that we can plainly see is possible. Corporate Welfare recipients will not let go of their billions without a fight.

I hope and pray that you too will one day know the beautiful sound of "free" heat coming from the sun. This is just one tiny piece of the puzzle of how to live in harmony with the planet. There are millions of answers to the question, what can one person do to make positive change in the world. "Take your time, think a lot, why think of everything you've got, for you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not."- Cat Stevens. When we finally figure out how to mimic nature, creating no waste, living in community, with respect for all beings, we will be well on our way to solving many of the problems that plague humanity. We Believed in change. We voted for Barack. We even made him the President. Now we have to fight for him. Show the Corporate Outlaws that we mean business. Remember, The Constitution says: "One person one vote", not one dollar one vote.