Month: April 2010

If you think that going green in transportation is like doing acupuncture you’re wrong. If you think driving clean is like tasting nasty medicine you’re wrong again. If you think by going to an electric vehicle you can say good-bye to tinkering in your garage with your hot rod, you are wrong one more time. I bet you didn’t think you would ever be happy about being wrong about anything. Let me tell you, you’re going to be happy about being wrong about this.

For the last 9 years the Electric Vehicle Association of Washington, DC, together with the National Electric Drag Racing Association have been putting together a show in Hagerstown, Maryland of what insaniac, electric gear heads, scientists and engineering departments can put together in their garages.

We are a group of individuals that have been pushing for electric vehicles as a clean and green option to buying dirty combustion engine vehicles for decades. To fight the false rhetorical argument that electric vehicles were nothing but slow moving glorified golf carts we have been putting on a demonstration of electric vehicle raw power for 9 years near Washington, DC. Our constant pushing speed records has made for some wonderfully exciting vehicles. Vehicles that you will not see anywhere else but in electric drag racing. Vehicles such as an eight mini wheeled electric only dragster.

A few years ago we added an electric autocross. An autocross is a timed race where one vehicle at a time goes through a course set up with traffic cones. Our course is set up by the Sports Car Club of America and is certified by them. Hybrids are allowed to enter the race. We invite everyone in the Mid-Atlantic region to come and see this spectacular event on our tenth anniversary.

We call the racing event the Power of DC, PoDC for short, and it will be running June 5th and 6th. The autocross will be held on the morning of the 5th at the Valley Mall in Hagerstown, Maryland and the drag race will be held at Mason-Dixon Dragway.

This year is our 10th anniversary!  We are looking for sponsors and I hope you will consider helping us make this event a reality.

Saturday is the Autocross event at the Valley Mall, run by the SCCA.
Sunday is NEDRA drag racing at the Mason Dixon Dragway.

Here are the levels of sponsorship:

$150
Name/logo/url on back of T-shirt
Link in website

$250
Name/logo/url on back of T-shirt
Link in website
Logo on homepage
Logo on banner

$500
Name/logo/url on back of T-shirt
Link in website
Logo on homepage
Logo on banner
Portion of event named after company/organization like “ABC Electronics AutoCross”

We have four opportunities for $500 sponsors (AutoCross, Drag Race, Show and Shine, Generator rental – logo/name on generator)

$1000
Name/logo/url on back of T-shirt
Link in website
Logo on homepage
Logo on banner
Entire race named after sponsor

All of this is outlined on the Power of DC Website at
http://www.powerofdc.com/sponsorship.html

Thank you,

John Alder
http://www.powerofdc.com

Maybe it’s true that we’re at fault and that Obama hasn’t changed while the public has. But he hasn’t adjusted. And I think he needs to. Trust in government is at an all-time low at a time when Obama is trying to get government to do really big things. He’s needs to incorporate messaging that suits 2010, not 2008. I think the answer is more of a populist touch.

We seem to have lost the iconoclastic instinct in the Western World, which I count as a good thing. If we want to make depictions of God, we damn well do it. He doesn’t have to compete with other gods for attention, so who cares these days? But Muslims still take this taboo seriously, and they extend it even unto the prophet Mohammed. After the creators of South Park depicted Mohammed in a bear-suit they received a death threat. Seems pretty stupid to my Western sensibilities, but I do respect that others have religious beliefs different from mine. And while I am more than willing to condemn death threats, I don’t think making May 20th Draw Mohammed Day is the best way to make the point. So, I won’t be participating. Even if I think it’s stupid to get offended if someone makes an artistic depiction of Mohammed, I have no interest in offending millions of people to make a point to a few extremists.

Hello again painting fans.

This week I’ll be starting with an entirely new painting. I will be using the photo seen directly below.  It’s a Hudson River scene taken from my car window a few months ago.  The white balance was set for indoor lighting, giving those nice shades of blue.  It was taken from a short overpass that I use every day during my commute.  Some of the Hudson highlands are seen in the background.  The bridge across the water is for trains.

I will be using my usual acrylics on a small 4 by 5 inch gallery-style (thick) canvas.

I’ve begun by painting some of the more significant elements.  The overpass (roadway) appears at the bottom. In the middle ground, the highlands and reflection are placed and awaiting further attention.  To the far rear, I’ve begun the clouds in the upper left.  These first brushstrokes help me make certain that everything will fit.  It’s a good start.

The current state of the painting is seen in the photo directly below.

That’s about it for now. Next week I’ll have more progress to show you. See you then. As always, feel free to add photos of your own work in the comments section below.

Earlier paintings in this series can be seen here.

CNN reports that Immigration Reform will bump Climate Change off this year’s agenda. Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman dispute this and say Reid has given them assurances that their Climate Change legislation will get a vote this year. In fact, they plan on unveiling their plan on Monday.

I don’t know who’s right, but there is no way that Congress will find time to do everything this year that they say they want to do.

Meanwhile, the idiot governor of Arizona signed the Latino Harassment Act of 2010, which pretty much forces the Democrats to do something to fix our broken immigration system as soon as possible.

Steve Benen:

Long-time readers may recall a discussion we had back in December, about the quality of the debate over health care reform. It was obvious at the time that the meaningful, interesting disputes weren’t between conservatives and liberals, but between liberals and other liberals.

It’s not that the right remained silent; it’s that they offered arguments that no serious person could find credible. Consider, just off the top of your head, the most prominent concerns raised by opponents of the Affordable Care Act. What comes to mind? “Death panels.” “Socialism.” “Government takeover.”

It was the biggest domestic policy fight in a generation, but most of the policy debate was spent debunking transparent, child-like nonsense. The left approached the debate with vibrancy, energy, and seriousness. The right thought it was fascinating to talk about the number of pages in the legislation.

This is a result of the FrankLuntzification of the Republican Party. Nevermind the frothing maniacs on the radio or Fox News, the Republicans are actually operating in lockstep on the basis of focus-grouped talking points. Then the nutters throw in some Death Panel nonsense for good measure and suddenly Chuck Grassley isn’t looking to cut a deal but talking about a government conspiracy to kill our grandmas.

So, yeah, there is no doubt that the only interesting political conversations going on in this country right now are between liberals and other liberals, and sometimes with centrist Democrats, too. The only factual criticism of the president is coming from the left. And there is plenty of it. A lot of it isn’t fair, but much of it is. I heard David Brooks say on NPR today that the whole Crist-Rubio spectacle (and what is signifies for the modern GOP) makes him want to suck on a tailpipe. I don’t blame him.

Low awareness of role of federal agencies and Tea Party fever
With examples from widespread frustration about tax day and the census, we can get an idea as to the confusion that many Americans have regarding the role of the government agencies and actions and their benefits and roles. According to a survey by Ipsos, 65% of American adults think that the government does not do an adequate job of communicating its agencies services and benefits.

When asked about particular agencies, respondents were more aware of these Federal agencies, but still unsure of their role and services. From the list of six agencies that the survey tested, the Federal Trade Commission was viewed least favorably as well as Americans being most confused over its role. However, once voters were exposed to more information about the agencies, they increasingly realized the daily influence of the agencies and viewed them more positively. These findings may yield good advice for the government. In increasing awareness about the impact of federal agencies and the benefits that they give to American citizens, support and satisfaction may increase.
Beyond being confused about the government’s impact on daily activities, with the rise and attention to the Tea-Party movement, there has been a focus on anti-government sentiment.

Tea- Party and the Government
In a poll published today (CBS/NYT), which aimed at identifying the views of the Tea-Party movement, 94% of Tea-Party supporters said they are dissatisfied or angry with the what is conspiring in D.C., 96% disapprove of how Congress is doing its job and over nine-in-ten would also prefer a smaller government.

Almost six-in-ten (56%) Tea Partiers say that Obama’s policies favor the poor, compared to 27% of the general American public. However, there are some Federal programs that gained support from Tea Partiers, particularly when they were beneficiaries of the service. Almost half of Tea-party supporters have someone in their household that received benefits from Medicare or Social Security. These supporters were more likely to have a positive view of these programs than their peers.

Tea-Party supporters are a largely homogenous crowd that does not demographically represent the spectrum of Americans. Tea-Partiers are majorly composed of white- older Christian men, and half of them consider themselves middle class. The members of movement, which rallied together by opposing the stimulus bill, were more likely to be retired (32%) compared to the general public (18%), and less likely to be temporarily out of work (6% v 15%). Tea-Partiers may be more firmly against government spending to fight unemployment because they are less likely to be actively searching in the job market.

However, the need for jobs and economic support has not disappeared in our nation. In fact, a mid-March tracking poll (DC) found that minorities, young voters, and unmarried women were hit hardest by the recession. America as a whole, many are still feeling the effects of the recession. In a month there was more job loss, more wage and hour reduction, and loss of health coverage; people are 70% of the American public is still feeling negative about the state of the economy. Subsequently there are also fewer people who found jobs or are re-entering the job market. 95% of Americans still think that the employment situation is a crisis or major problem facing our country.

Compared to the general public, Tea- Party supporters are disproportionally likely to favor lowering the federal deficit as a priority over creating jobs.

However, as tracking polls have shown it is minorities, unmarried women and young people, who are largely underrepresented in the Tea-Party that are in need of relief from disproportionate unemployment effecting them.

Source: (CBS/NYT)

75% of tea-party supporters think that Obama doesn’t share the values of most Americans. However, 57% of the American public thinks that Obama does share the values of most Americans.

In terms of race, Tea-Partiers were more likely (73% compared to 60%) to say that both whites and blacks have an equal chance of getting ahead in society. TP supporters were also less likely to say that whites had an advantage in society (16% to 31%), 89% of Tea-Party supporters are white. Over half of Tea-Party members say that too big of a deal is made of black issues, compared with 28% of the American public that feels the same.

Read more at The Opportunity Agenda website.

I am starting to get pretty pessimistic about the midterm elections. I think Bob Menendez has done a dreadful job of recruitment. I give him credit for getting (a candidate I can’t support) Charlie Melancon to run for David Vitter’s seat, but where else are we challenging an incumbent? North Carolina? And we don’t even have a candidate there yet. I kind of doubt the DSCC’s guy is going to win the primary there anyway. I can’t wait to lose the president and vice-president’s old seats and the majority leader’s seat, too. That’s going to be awesome.

Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet.

In this regular series, we profile advisors to the Nourishing the Planet project. This week, we feature Hans Herren, President of the Millennium Institute.

Name: Hans Herren

Affiliation: The Millennium Institute

Location:  Arlington, VA, United States

Bio: Hans Herren is President of the Millennium Institute (MI). Prior to joining MI, he was Director-General of the International Center for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Nairobi, Kenya. He also served as director of the Africa Biological Control Center of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), in Benin. At ICIPE, Hans developed and implemented programs in the area of human, animal, plant, and environmental health (the 4-H paradigm) as they relate to insect issues. At IITA, he conceived and implemented the highly successful biological control program that saved the African cassava crop, and averted Africa’s worst-ever food crisis. Hans also was a chair of the International Assessment for Agricultural Knowledge, Science, and Technology for Development (IAASTD), a four-year long assessment of world agriculture. Over the years, Hans has moved his interests toward the policy aspects of integrated sustainable development, in particular, linking environmental, plant, animal, and human health issues.

On Nourishing the Planet: There has been much talk about local empowerment in making development policy decisions from the international donor community. It is now high time to follow the talk with action, to strongly support capacity and institutional development in integrated and systemic planning in developing countries.

What do you see as the relationship between agriculture and the environment? Sustainable agriculture depends fully on its environment, into which it has to be “organically and harmoniously” integrated. In the medium and long term, agriculture will be more dependent on the biodiversity it has been destroying, the water it has been overusing, and the people it should have trained to nourish a growing and more demanding population. A change in paradigm, as recommended by the IAASTD report, is no longer an option; it’s a prerequisite to the future of humanity.

What role can agriculture can play in alleviating poverty and hunger worldwide? Agriculture is multifunctional; it services the many different needs of humanity, including the provision of jobs, which will help on both counts, hunger and poverty. Agriculture is at the basis of any development agenda and needs to be given the appropriate importance by investments in the many facets of this key economic sector.

What sort of policies and projects would you like to see implemented immediately to address issues of global hunger and poverty? Major investments must be made in sustainable agricultural research and development, in particular agronomy and soil sciences. No matter what crop varieties with high-yield potential exist, the number one issue is soil fertility. Soil restoration and permanent rebuilding are essential to produce food where it is demanded, and by the people who need both the food and job opportunity.

What could be done to encourage greater agricultural investment to help alleviate poverty and hunger? Make it clear to policymakers at the international and national levels that hunger and poverty will only be overcome by a sustainable agriculture, supported by knowledge, science, and innovations.

Why should food consumers in the United States care about the state of agriculture in other countries? The consumption pattern in the U.S. is not sustainable in the short and long term. The Earth is one, and what happens in one part of it inevitably affects others. From many different angles, from climate change to world peace, there is a need to assure food security and sovereignty in developing countries, while also assuring sustainable agriculture in industrialized nations.

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The student government of UC Berkeley, historically a leading university in civil and human rights activism, recently voted to divest from companies that support the illegal occupation of Palestine. The 16-4 majority vote, however, was vetoed by the Senate president. AIPAC, the core of Israel Lobby,  reacted. Although it was not carried by the mainstream media, it announced that it would take over college campuses just as it has taken over Congress.

“This is how AIPAC operates in our nation’s capitol. This is how AIPAC must operate on our nation’s campuses.”

A vote to overturn the veto fell one short of the 14 vote majority needed. The vote was then tabled for a future vote to overturn the veto, which will occur in five days, April 28.
Now comes this appeal from Jewish Voice for Peace inviting individuals to support the divestment action at UC Berkeley.

Every so often, we get a moment when a remarkable future starts to unfold before our eyes. And when it happens, it’s our responsibility to do everything within our power to help it along. One of those moments is happening right now, unbeknownst to most of the world, on the University of California’s Berkeley campus.

Berkeley professors and students of every race, religion, and nationality are standing courageously side by side and calling on the university to divest from companies that profit from the occupation of the Palestinian Territories. In March, the student Senate voted 16 to 4 to divest. Then, the Senate president vetoed their vote and last week, after 10 life-changing hours of testimony that lasted through the night, the vote to overturn the veto was tabled.

In 5 days, on April 28, the students will again try to overturn the veto. That’s how many days we have to demonstrate our support and solidarity with these amazing people who are standing for justice for all people in Palestine and Israel.

 I urge you to stand with them – to let them know that they are not alone.

What happens over the next week in Berkeley is critical, not just for the movement there but for the burgeoning movement around the country. Once again, Berkeley is a birthplace of a movement that could change the course of history. Students all over the United States are watching closely, learning, and preparing a massive divestment campaign the likes of which hasn’t been seen in decades. Important? World-changing? Without a doubt.

Last week, I was there during the first attempt to overturn the veto when nearly 900 people packed the room. We were Muslims, Jews, Palestinians, Israelis, Christians; grandmothers and students and everyone in between – the majority in support of divestment. This next vote is even more critical. Most of us can’t be in the room when UC students hold their vote, but we can and must be represented. Our diversity, our staunch support, and our commitment must be represented.
Last week, hundreds in the room wore bright green stickers that said “Another (fill in the blank) for human rights. Divest from the Israeli occupation.” We want your name on those stickers next week.

Please CLICK HERE and add your name to the thousands of supporters – you’ll be represented by a bright green statement and we intend to turn the room into a sea of green – a sea of hope and support.

The truth is that the students at UC Berkeley have already won, building on the efforts of students at Hampshire College and the University of Michigan’s Dearborn campus. They have secured support from an unprecedented range of people including Nobel prize winners, rabbis, world renown scholars, Israeli and Palestinian peace groups and more. There has never been a debate on an American campus like the debate these students have made happen.

But with your voice, they can make it to the finish line.  

Thank you in advance for you help today. These students are making history – and I’m grateful we can count on you to help.

Sincerely,

Dana Bergen
Board President, Jewish Voice for Peace

And if you have the time, here are some videos of talks that preceded the UC Berkeley vote:

Visiting student Ibrahim Shikaki from the West Bank:

Hedy Epstein, 86 year old Holocaust survivor and peace activist: