For Once, The Developers Were Just A Little Bit TOO Clever
by Angry White LiberalDevelopers are frustrated with the county because it is unclear how long County Executive Douglas M. Duncan’s freeze on the issuance of building permits will last. Council members, facing reelection campaigns in 2006, are skeptical that the agencies that oversee planning are up to the job. Community groups said their concerns about how the county will grow were lost in a marathon of political posturing by elected officials.
Click here for link.
All Right, So Mass Transit In MoCo Isn’t COMPLETLEY Dead…..
by Angry White LiberalThe measure includes $100 million so Metro can buy 52 rail cars and language that authorizes a rail line to Dulles International Airport and a proposed link between Bethesda and Silver Spring, known as the Purple Line.
Click here for link.
There are a growing number of green and Green Party blogs now which led to some discussion on Ken Sain’s blog–probably the most widely read Green Blog– of setting up a community blog on the model of the Daily Kos, the biggest liberal Democratic blog, which gets some 3.5 million hits a week and sells adds for $750 a pop. (Kos raised a considerable amount of money for the Ohio recount last year.)
Oklahoma blogger Serena Blaiz has stepped up to the plate and established Green Commons, which will hopefully become a nation wide forum for Green Party members to exchange news, views, organizing, fundraising, and anything else that may be usefull.
One use I’d like to see it put to is for national GP leaders to post their views on events in the GP–especially at the national CC level. Some of the misunderstandings and charges of lack of democracy could be avoided if CC and SC members would pop in once in a while and let us know what’s up.
Steve–Virginia–are you reading this?
Oh, and if you want to make a contribution to get Green Commons off the ground, go here.
SEC to Become Even More Right-Wing Than Before (From Scott Loughrey’s Blog)
by Angry White Liberal*SEC*
SEC to become even more right-wing than before:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/25/
AR2005072501726.html –or–
http://snipurl.com/gj8c
Weed Discovery Brings Calls For GM Ban (From Scott Loughrey’s Blog)
by Angry White Liberal*GM FOOD*
Weed discovery brings calls for GM ban:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gmdebate/Story/0,2763,1536020,00.html
–or–
http://snipurl.com/gj7z
“Britain cannot afford to take the risk of spreading genetically
modified genes to wild plants and should ban GM crops that have wild
relatives in the countryside, the former environment minister Michael
Meacher said yesterday…”
A third of bay is ‘dead zone,’ survey shows
by karma432A study of the Cheasapeake bay by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science from July 11 to 15 found that one third of the bay was a low 0xygen “dead zone.” Twice monthly monitoring will continue through the summer. Researchers fear that by season end the dead zone may grow to the largest ever on record. Two decades of work to restore the bay have accomplished nothing.
Dead zones are the result of fertilizer and other pollutants high in nitrogen and phosphorous are washed by rain into the bay. These compounds feed an explosive growth of algae, which die and rot. Bacteria devouring this decaying mass consume oxygen, suffocating marine life.
Bruce Michael, with the Mayland Department of Natural Resources, believes that major changes will be needed to restore the bay,
Just upgrading sewage treatment plants won’t do it. We need less fertilizer on lawns and farms, upgrades of septic tanks, storm water control systems - all of these things will reduce nutrient pollution.
The draft of the Maryland Green Party addresses many of the issues that affect the bay, from low till farming that uses less fertilizer and pesticides, to urban planning that adopts the principles of new urbanism that limit suburban sprawl, to green roofs that help moderate runoff water during heavy rains.
The Green Party is the party of ideas; the Democrats and Republicans have nothing to offer that comes anywhere close to solving problems such as the dying bay. Take a look at the nothing burger that the Maryland Democrats offer up in the way of issues statements. There’s absolutely nothing there that will solve the problems of a dying bay, poorly planned urban sprawl, and the looming energy problems.
It is vital that the Greens offer a strong, issues oriented alternative. The failure of bay cleanup efforts is only one sign that the ruling duopoly cannot solve the problems that face us. They are bankrupt of ideas, at a time when creative thinking is needed the most.
Prison Experts See Opportunity For Improvement
by Angry White LiberalEven prisoners are supposed to be entitled to some civil rights! This is outragous!
Click here for link.
Excellent Reasons To Emigrate To Finland
by Angry White LiberalFor Souter, Seizure Ruling May Hit Home
by Angry White LiberalHA! This will probably turn out to be nothing more than a hill of beans, but you can bet that right now it has Souter’s attention!
Click here for link.
Montgomery to Curb Flexible Zoning
by Angry White LiberalThe Washington Post handles this issue with kid gloves; you need to read between the lines in order to understand the significance of all of this.
Click here for link.