Monday, October 25, 2010
New Directions
My life has taken drastic new directions this year. I used to sit in my spare time and write different blogs based on my interests and such. I am thus ending active writing on this blog. I will leave it as an archive and link portal. See what new directions my life and writings take at Thought and Memory Blog. Thanks for following, and I hope you will continue at Thought and Memory.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Happy One Month Anniversary
Time For A Boycott!
If you live in the United States and buy fuel at any of these businesses, you are supporting and enabling the company responsible for what is likely the worst oil spill disaster in our history. It is time we stop supporting BP. In fact it is time we say no to big oil and spend our money on alternative energy and fuel technologies.
Yesterday was the one month anniversary of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. BP reported today that the small tube they have stuck in one of the leak sites is bringing 5000 barrels of oil a day to the surface to apparently be pumped into tankers and hauled away. They are are still claiming that only 5000 barrels of oil is leaking into the gulf, though most expert estimates are anywhere between 25000 and 80000 barrels per day. It is likely that the oil has reached the Loop Current to carry it into the Atlantic ocean. Tar balls have started washing up in Key West Florida. Test results are likely to confirm that this is from the Deep Horizon spill. A U.S. Energy Information Administration report from October 2009 states that there are 3,464 million barrels in the Gulf of Mexico Federal Offshore Oil Proved Reserves. Hope they figure out how to plug this hole soon.
BP is being allowed to control cleanup operations in the gulf with assistance and some oversight from from the federal government. One month after the spill they have yet to stop the leak tens of thousands of barrels of oil into the sea. BP has dropped more than 500,000 gallons of Corexit 9500 an oil dispersant into the gulf as well. Dispersants break the oil into small droplets that often sink and are allegedly less damaging to the environment. In the Material Data Safety sheet for Corexit 9500 it indicates a low risk to humans and environment. On Thursday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a directive requiring BP to identify and use a less toxic and more effective dispersant from the list of EPA authorized dispersants. Members of the board of directors of BP and Exxon both sit on the board of Nalco the company that manufactures Corexit.
BP has a criminal record and a horrible safety record. BP has two refineries that account for 97 % of all flagrant safety violations found in the refining industry. We the people of the United States subsidize BP and other oil companies to drill our resources which is then sold on the open market for obscene profits. All the while BP fails to protect its to protect its employees and the public. The Federal Minerals Management Service now being broken up failed to collect millions in royalties, failed to regulate the industry properly, and had a more than cozy relationship with the industry. Employees at the Denver MMS office were having sex and sharing cocaine with oil industry employees. MMS employees accepted thousands of dollars in gifts and trips while industry employees accepted billions of dollars in energy contracts Seems to me like we are paying them to rob us. When do we fund our great American innovative spirit and create a new energy economy?
I will not spend my money at any company that sells BP's products. I invite you to do the same. Please sign this petition and pass it on. Let's send the message to the oil companies that we are done with them. Let's tell them that they must adapt to a new energy and fuel economy or go away.
Links:
Deepwater Horizon Response Official Unified Command Home Page
COREXIT ® 9500 (EC9500A) Oil Spill Dispersant: Sales Brochure
COREXIT® EC9500A Material Data Safety Sheet
U.S. Energy Information Administration Federal Offshore Gulf Of Mexico Proved Reserves
EPA: BP Must Use Less Toxic Dispersant
OSHA Report On BP 2005 Texas City Refinery Explosion
2008 Scandal In Denver Minerals Management Office
BP Gas Station Finder: Find Places To Avoid In Your Neighborhood
If you live in the United States and buy fuel at any of these businesses, you are supporting and enabling the company responsible for what is likely the worst oil spill disaster in our history. It is time we stop supporting BP. In fact it is time we say no to big oil and spend our money on alternative energy and fuel technologies.
Yesterday was the one month anniversary of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. BP reported today that the small tube they have stuck in one of the leak sites is bringing 5000 barrels of oil a day to the surface to apparently be pumped into tankers and hauled away. They are are still claiming that only 5000 barrels of oil is leaking into the gulf, though most expert estimates are anywhere between 25000 and 80000 barrels per day. It is likely that the oil has reached the Loop Current to carry it into the Atlantic ocean. Tar balls have started washing up in Key West Florida. Test results are likely to confirm that this is from the Deep Horizon spill. A U.S. Energy Information Administration report from October 2009 states that there are 3,464 million barrels in the Gulf of Mexico Federal Offshore Oil Proved Reserves. Hope they figure out how to plug this hole soon.
BP is being allowed to control cleanup operations in the gulf with assistance and some oversight from from the federal government. One month after the spill they have yet to stop the leak tens of thousands of barrels of oil into the sea. BP has dropped more than 500,000 gallons of Corexit 9500 an oil dispersant into the gulf as well. Dispersants break the oil into small droplets that often sink and are allegedly less damaging to the environment. In the Material Data Safety sheet for Corexit 9500 it indicates a low risk to humans and environment. On Thursday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a directive requiring BP to identify and use a less toxic and more effective dispersant from the list of EPA authorized dispersants. Members of the board of directors of BP and Exxon both sit on the board of Nalco the company that manufactures Corexit.
BP has a criminal record and a horrible safety record. BP has two refineries that account for 97 % of all flagrant safety violations found in the refining industry. We the people of the United States subsidize BP and other oil companies to drill our resources which is then sold on the open market for obscene profits. All the while BP fails to protect its to protect its employees and the public. The Federal Minerals Management Service now being broken up failed to collect millions in royalties, failed to regulate the industry properly, and had a more than cozy relationship with the industry. Employees at the Denver MMS office were having sex and sharing cocaine with oil industry employees. MMS employees accepted thousands of dollars in gifts and trips while industry employees accepted billions of dollars in energy contracts Seems to me like we are paying them to rob us. When do we fund our great American innovative spirit and create a new energy economy?
I will not spend my money at any company that sells BP's products. I invite you to do the same. Please sign this petition and pass it on. Let's send the message to the oil companies that we are done with them. Let's tell them that they must adapt to a new energy and fuel economy or go away.
Links:
Deepwater Horizon Response Official Unified Command Home Page
COREXIT ® 9500 (EC9500A) Oil Spill Dispersant: Sales Brochure
COREXIT® EC9500A Material Data Safety Sheet
U.S. Energy Information Administration Federal Offshore Gulf Of Mexico Proved Reserves
EPA: BP Must Use Less Toxic Dispersant
OSHA Report On BP 2005 Texas City Refinery Explosion
2008 Scandal In Denver Minerals Management Office
BP Gas Station Finder: Find Places To Avoid In Your Neighborhood
Friday, March 26, 2010
Health Care Reform Passes.
I wanted to write and share the great news I am sure you have already heard. Health care reform is law. This is a historical day for our country. No longer can the insurance companies abuse the citizens of this nation for profit. This has essentially been the point of the entire health care battle.
For far too long have the Insurance companies been allowed to drop coverage for getting sick. For far too long they have been able to exclude people from coverage for being born sick. 32 million more people will have insurance coverage. This is not a government take over of health care. It is a government fix to a huge budgetary and public health problem facing the people of this nation. This reform saves the government 138 billion dollars over ten years, and $1.2 trillion over 20 years according to the non partisan Congressional Budgeting Office. This bill also helps seniors on Medicare who will now pay less for prescriptions with the closing of the donut hole gap in coverage. Seniors will now have preventative care at no cost to them with Medicare. This bill provides significant tax breaks for small businesses that provide health insurance for their employees. This reform is expected to create 2.5 million jobs over ten years due to reduction of health care costs to businesses.
This battle for health care has shown just how dysfunctional and powerful the special interest have become, and how entrenched they have become in Washington. The Republicans and some Democrats have been absolute obstructionists simply for political purposes. Many are well paid by health insurance and other special interests. They were elected to do the work of the people. Yet they chose to vote no. They chose to let another 45,000 people die this year due to a lack of health coverage. The chose to let millions more live one illness away from bankruptcy. They chose to support insurance company profits over their constituents well being. Fortunately 60 Senators and 219 Representatives had the courage to pass this reform.
The Republicans continued to drag their feet in the Senate, using more stall tactics to slow the reconciliation bill of fixes that the House of Representatives demanded from the Senate in order to pass the Senates bill. It is an exercise in futility. Many are now vowing repeal. There are several state attorney generals that are suing merely to score political points from their far right base. Again an exercise in futility. By some accounts, this bill that passed is more conservative than the compromise bill the Republicans offered in 1994 during Bill Clinton's try at health care reform, and the one that Nixon tried to get passed in his first term. My thought is that if one has an employee that refuses to do their job, one fires them. It is time for these obstructionists to be voted out of office.
There is a small minority on the far right fringe of American politics, who is being extremely vocal and violent and they are being whipped up by these same far right politicians as well as media personalities like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. Since health care reform passed a number of offices of Democrats around the country have been vandalized by wing nuts who think they speak for the rest of us. Things are likely to get ugly over the next few months as these wing-nuts gear up for their "revolution." It is my belief that we will see more acts of domestic terrorism over the next few months. April 19th is especially significant in American history. April 19, 1775 beheld the battle of Lexington and Concord, the first battle of the American Revolution. This also the day of the tragedy in Waco in 1993. It was also April 19, 1995 when Timothy McVey bombed The Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
I ask my friends who are on the right of the political spectrum, please do not endorse this insanity. Form a new party. Those who are left in Washington want only one thing. Absolute dictatorial theocratic power. They care not for the American people nor those of you who voted for them. They care about the hundreds of thousands of dollars they get from special interests. They care about holding on to power, despite scandal, and criminal behavior. The entire Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee has been subpoenaed in a possible election fraud case involving Nevada Senator John Ensign and possibly others. The Republican Party is dying. We need those on the right in the dialog of American politics. What we don't need are those who would seek violence for dislike of our president. We don't need those who would seek violence because their narrow vision for America includes only them. We don't need those who rail against a mostly successful stimulus package and voted against it, but get excited for a campaign photo op at a project in their district funded by stimulus money. It is time for the hypocrisy to leave Washington. Please get involved and bring some moderation to the politics. As an independent voter, a post I saw on Twitter says it best, "Democrats, the party that gets s@%t done."
Next up on the list of Congress-Do's for the American people is financial and corporate reform. It is time to reign in the to big to fail banks and the wall street firms that drove our economy to the brink of depression. Anybody in Congress or other political office needs to hear that you support strong financial regulation and bank reform. It is time they heard from you about supporting the public financing of elections. If we want fair elections we have to pay for them. If we continue we will lose more and more freedom to those who have the money to buy the power. The Supreme Court ruled that corporations have the right of free speech and effectively said that they may spend as much as they like in elections. The corporations do not have our interests in mind. They care only for shareholder profit at whatever expense to people and the environment.
We still have much work to do to take back this country from lobbyist and special interests. We have much work to do to rebuild our infrastructure and refresh our military strength. Our country has been mismanaged by politics for far too long. Health care reform is what the change we voted for looks like. Hopefully we won't have to fight so hard for it on every thing that needs to be done.
Follow this link to read:
10 THINGS EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT HEALTH CARE REFORM
Pass it on.
Have a great day.
For far too long have the Insurance companies been allowed to drop coverage for getting sick. For far too long they have been able to exclude people from coverage for being born sick. 32 million more people will have insurance coverage. This is not a government take over of health care. It is a government fix to a huge budgetary and public health problem facing the people of this nation. This reform saves the government 138 billion dollars over ten years, and $1.2 trillion over 20 years according to the non partisan Congressional Budgeting Office. This bill also helps seniors on Medicare who will now pay less for prescriptions with the closing of the donut hole gap in coverage. Seniors will now have preventative care at no cost to them with Medicare. This bill provides significant tax breaks for small businesses that provide health insurance for their employees. This reform is expected to create 2.5 million jobs over ten years due to reduction of health care costs to businesses.
This battle for health care has shown just how dysfunctional and powerful the special interest have become, and how entrenched they have become in Washington. The Republicans and some Democrats have been absolute obstructionists simply for political purposes. Many are well paid by health insurance and other special interests. They were elected to do the work of the people. Yet they chose to vote no. They chose to let another 45,000 people die this year due to a lack of health coverage. The chose to let millions more live one illness away from bankruptcy. They chose to support insurance company profits over their constituents well being. Fortunately 60 Senators and 219 Representatives had the courage to pass this reform.
The Republicans continued to drag their feet in the Senate, using more stall tactics to slow the reconciliation bill of fixes that the House of Representatives demanded from the Senate in order to pass the Senates bill. It is an exercise in futility. Many are now vowing repeal. There are several state attorney generals that are suing merely to score political points from their far right base. Again an exercise in futility. By some accounts, this bill that passed is more conservative than the compromise bill the Republicans offered in 1994 during Bill Clinton's try at health care reform, and the one that Nixon tried to get passed in his first term. My thought is that if one has an employee that refuses to do their job, one fires them. It is time for these obstructionists to be voted out of office.
There is a small minority on the far right fringe of American politics, who is being extremely vocal and violent and they are being whipped up by these same far right politicians as well as media personalities like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. Since health care reform passed a number of offices of Democrats around the country have been vandalized by wing nuts who think they speak for the rest of us. Things are likely to get ugly over the next few months as these wing-nuts gear up for their "revolution." It is my belief that we will see more acts of domestic terrorism over the next few months. April 19th is especially significant in American history. April 19, 1775 beheld the battle of Lexington and Concord, the first battle of the American Revolution. This also the day of the tragedy in Waco in 1993. It was also April 19, 1995 when Timothy McVey bombed The Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
I ask my friends who are on the right of the political spectrum, please do not endorse this insanity. Form a new party. Those who are left in Washington want only one thing. Absolute dictatorial theocratic power. They care not for the American people nor those of you who voted for them. They care about the hundreds of thousands of dollars they get from special interests. They care about holding on to power, despite scandal, and criminal behavior. The entire Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee has been subpoenaed in a possible election fraud case involving Nevada Senator John Ensign and possibly others. The Republican Party is dying. We need those on the right in the dialog of American politics. What we don't need are those who would seek violence for dislike of our president. We don't need those who would seek violence because their narrow vision for America includes only them. We don't need those who rail against a mostly successful stimulus package and voted against it, but get excited for a campaign photo op at a project in their district funded by stimulus money. It is time for the hypocrisy to leave Washington. Please get involved and bring some moderation to the politics. As an independent voter, a post I saw on Twitter says it best, "Democrats, the party that gets s@%t done."
Next up on the list of Congress-Do's for the American people is financial and corporate reform. It is time to reign in the to big to fail banks and the wall street firms that drove our economy to the brink of depression. Anybody in Congress or other political office needs to hear that you support strong financial regulation and bank reform. It is time they heard from you about supporting the public financing of elections. If we want fair elections we have to pay for them. If we continue we will lose more and more freedom to those who have the money to buy the power. The Supreme Court ruled that corporations have the right of free speech and effectively said that they may spend as much as they like in elections. The corporations do not have our interests in mind. They care only for shareholder profit at whatever expense to people and the environment.
We still have much work to do to take back this country from lobbyist and special interests. We have much work to do to rebuild our infrastructure and refresh our military strength. Our country has been mismanaged by politics for far too long. Health care reform is what the change we voted for looks like. Hopefully we won't have to fight so hard for it on every thing that needs to be done.
Follow this link to read:
10 THINGS EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT HEALTH CARE REFORM
Pass it on.
Have a great day.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Mississippi High School Cancels Prom Because Same Sex Couple Planned To Attend.
Think Progress is reporting that a high school in Mississippi is cancelling its prom after request from a student to bring her same sex partner. Read at http://bit.ly/bhiG89 and then write a letter to the school district asking them to reconsider their policy and reverse their decision.
Contact Email Address for Itawomba Agricultural High School: dthomas@itawamba.k12.ms.us
Contact Email Address for Itawomba Agricultural High School: dthomas@itawamba.k12.ms.us
Glenn Beck Attacks Me.
Glenn Beck is dangerous. He is working to undermine the fabric of our democracy with his brand of hate and lunacy. Pass it on.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
To The People Of Iran
To those who seek and struggle for freedom from a repressive and brutal regime in Iran, know that the world stands with you. We are paying attention to your struggles, and we stand in solidarity with you. We see your suffering and your martyrs such as Neda. We see when you stand for the right of free expression, and the right to speak out against injustice in your country. We stand with you. When you stand against rape and torture of your fellow citizens, we see your struggle. We stand with you.
There is nothing more we in the west want right now than a sane government in Tehran. Those in power have shown their true colors. They are brutal dictators. They are rapists, and they are torturers. They are guilty of crimes against humanity. They are liars, and a threat to the entire world. To the police apparatus of Iran, you must take the side of the people or you are just as guilty as the leadership of these atrocities committed in the name of holding on to power by the fraud Ahmadinejad. It is time for the regime of Iran, and all other regimes of the world, to take notice that the people of the world stand for freedom without oppression.
To the People of Free Persia, Many blessings.
Rev. Jeremy Cook
USA
There is nothing more we in the west want right now than a sane government in Tehran. Those in power have shown their true colors. They are brutal dictators. They are rapists, and they are torturers. They are guilty of crimes against humanity. They are liars, and a threat to the entire world. To the police apparatus of Iran, you must take the side of the people or you are just as guilty as the leadership of these atrocities committed in the name of holding on to power by the fraud Ahmadinejad. It is time for the regime of Iran, and all other regimes of the world, to take notice that the people of the world stand for freedom without oppression.
To the People of Free Persia, Many blessings.
Rev. Jeremy Cook
USA
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Letter to Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO)
Senator Bennet,
I appreciate your reply to my letter concerning campaign finance reform. Thank you for taking the time to write me back. I am a supporter of changing the way we finance campaigns, however I don't believe the current bills go far enough to remove special interest influence from elections, or from Washington.
In your letter you say "Opponents of public financing question whether real or apparent corruption from private
fundraising is as serious a problem as critics claim. They argue that public financing would
be an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars and would allocate taxpayer dollars to
candidates they do not support."
I appreciate your reply to my letter concerning campaign finance reform. Thank you for taking the time to write me back. I am a supporter of changing the way we finance campaigns, however I don't believe the current bills go far enough to remove special interest influence from elections, or from Washington.
In your letter you say "Opponents of public financing question whether real or apparent corruption from private
fundraising is as serious a problem as critics claim. They argue that public financing would
be an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars and would allocate taxpayer dollars to
candidates they do not support."
My reply is this. First the problem of corruption from private fundraising is serious. Those who say it isn't are most likely involved in the corruption we are talking about. Second, my tax money goes to support wars and policies, that I do not support. My tax dollars go to pay politicians I do not support a salary. If we truly want to have a government of the people and for the people, we will remove money from the equation.
As I said in my previous letter we have laws to regulate influence peddling when we should have laws against what in most other contexts would be a felony. It is time to change this. Failure to do so is failure for this country.
When I look at Washington today I see an ineffective government that can't get things done. Where is health care reform? We haven't closed Gitmo. We have no accountability for torture committed in our name. We are still losing valuable members of the military to don't ask, don't tell. The banks are still doing their business as usual at the expense of the people of this country. AIG owes taxpayers $185 billion, and they are paying out over $100 million in bonuses to the same people who drove the economy to the brink of collapse. This is unacceptable.
The process of making laws is broken and we must now have super majorities to get business done in this country. It is time for a complete overhaul of Congress. If this can't be done, then maybe we do need to go to the streets.
I was also disappointed to get an invitation to see the President as a fundraiser for you at a thousand dollars a pop for the first reception and $15000 for the second one. Sorry sir, I don't have that kind of money. I can barely pay my mortgage to Bank Of Amerika and can't get them to work with me to rearrange my loan to reduce the payment. It made me smile to see Ken Lewis and BoA charged with fraud today.
Senator, I hope you haven't drank the water in Washington, but it appears you have. If you and your fellow almost super majority can't get it done soon it is going to be a rough election campaign. Good luck with that. Please sir I implore you to do the work of the people and tell the corporations and the special interests, that we are not for sale.
Thank you,
Rev. Jeremy Cook
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