Day: March 11, 2010

The “Al Qaeda 7”

For more than a week there has been a back and forth between the lunatics like Liz Cheney and the rest of the country….she got lots of play when her organization “Keep America Safe” put out an ad that calls those people that have defended suspected terrorists as the “Al Qaeda 7″…..shall we continue?

From thinkprogress.org:  Liz Cheney and Bill Kristol’s Keep America Safe organization released a web ad on Monday targeting yet-to-be named Justice Department lawyers who had worked on Guantanamo detainee issues as the “al Qaeda 7.” “Whose values do they share?” asked the ad over an image of seven silhouettes juxtaposed with images of Arabic men. When Politico’s Ben Smith first reported on the attack ad, he noted that it “questions the loyalties of Justice Department lawyers.”

The Lady Liz and her cohorts have forgotten their history….which is NOT unusual for the lunatic Right to do so if it helps their agenda……the history I am talking about is back in 1770…….in case your history is a little cloudy,,,,that was when the British opened up on colonialists it was called, “the Boston Massacre”.

March 5, 1770, a confrontation between an angry merchant and a lone sentry posted in front of the Customs House devolved into an angry mob hurling chunks of ice, coal, and stones against a group of quickly assembled reinforcements. One of the soldiers fell after someone threw a wooden club at him. Then from one in the crowd: “Fire!” That’s when the shooting began. Five Boston citizens were killed.
The British soldiers were put on trial. It was with great difficulty that a defense team was assembled. John Adams, a respected attorney from nearby Braintree, agreed to lead the defense. Adams knew he was risking his reputation, but firmly believed in the principle that every man deserves a fair trial.

This is what America is ALL about…..a fair trial for accused terrorists and the Brits from 1770 could be labeled terrorists.  If these Americans are trying to say that these lawyers were acting in an un-American fashion, then they are basically spitting on the Constitution and the very soul of the United States of America.

The Environmental Obama

In the beginning there was an election and the people spoke…they wanted change……

During the election in ’08 Obama wanted to be known as the education president and the environmental president and so far the environmental thing is not going so well….The Congressional Repubs are and will continue to fight the Dems and the President at every turn and will make the cap and trade thing the corner stone of the opposition.

One of this country, as well as the rest of the world, biggest problems is air pollution…..it has been blamed for everything from asthma to lung cancer to global warming or climate change, whichever you choose to use, and the whole cap and trade thing is an attempt to make corporations more environmentally responsible….the President has weighed in and the Dems are trying to make the environment more clean….

Are they?

In a piece written by Hiram Lee for wsws.org:

Up to 130 million tons of coal ash, the waste product created during coal combustion, are produced each year in the US, with approximately 40 percent of it going for use in other products such as asphalt or concrete. Sixty percent of the ash is stored in landfills or ash “ponds” throughout the country.

Exposure to coal ash through contaminated water supplies presents a significant health risk. The waste product contains toxic contaminants such as arsenic, mercury, lead and barium, which can lead to cancer, birth defects or disorders of the nervous system. There are currently no uniform, federal standards in place governing the building or maintenance of coal ash containment facilities.

In addition to treating coal ash as toxic waste in its proposal, the EPA has also named three industries—chemical manufacturing; petroleum and coal products manufacturing; and the electric power generation, transmission, and distribution industry—that could potentially face financial responsibility requirements under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. Should CERCLA be amended to include these industries, it would force the companies involved to be financially responsible for the cleanup of any environmental contamination they may have caused.

The role of the Obama administration has been to prevent the EPA proposal from moving forward, acting on behalf of the coal and energy companies. Should the proposal be allowed to go through, it will only be after the administration has worked with the energy conglomerates to revise it in such as way as to arrange the most favorable financial conditions possible for the companies.

It seems that the Obama Admin is using the same tactic it used with the banks…..allow nothing to interfere with corporate profit…and that includes the environment….it will virtually impossible to be the environmental president when working hard against any reasonable attempts to curb air pollution….I am looking forward to see how they, Obama Admin, try and spin this situation…..that is assuming that it will get some press…..

UPDATE:  What happened to “green” technologies?  You remember those?  Wind…..solar….do-dah….but his, Pres. Obama, big deal is a guaranteed loan from a nuke plant….and in the same breath….they announce the closing of Yucca Mtn which is where spent fuel would be stored…..just asking!