Montgomery County, MD Green Party Blog

Isn’t a gay Mormon an oxymoron?

A gay man who is a lifetime member of the Mormon church could be facing disciplinary action and excommunication after legally marrying his partner in Canada.

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Here’s an interesting twist: Literate gangsters.

When Smith was initiated to the gang, he was told to read a number of books, including works by Aristotle, Plato, Friedrich Nietzsche and Niccolo Machiavelli.

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FBI Took Photos of Antiwar Activists in 2002

An FBI report from November 2002 indicates that an agent photographed members of the Thomas Merton Center as they handed out leaflets opposing the impending war in Iraq. The report called the group a “left-wing organization advocating, among many political causes, pacifism.”

The same memo notes that one of the leaflet distributors “appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent” but that no other participants appeared to be from the Middle East.

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The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) has just released a report that claims that “The days of inexpensive, convenient, abundant energy sources are quickly drawing to a close.”

The report warns that in order to sustain its mission, “the Army must insulate itself from the economic and logistical energy-related problems coming in the near to mid future. This requires a transition to modern, secure, and efficient energy systems, and to building technologies that are safe and environmental friendly.” The best energy options they conclude are “energy efficiency and renewable sources.” However, “currently, there is no viable substitute for petroleum.”

They do not expect that any transition will be easy: “energy consumption is indispensable to our standard of living and a necessity for the Army to carry out its mission. However, current trends are not sustainable. The impact of excessive, unsustainable energy consumption may undermine the very culture and activities it supports. There is no perfect energy source; all are used at a cost.”

The Army’s new Energy Strategy sets out five major initiatives:

1. Eliminate energy waste in existing facilities
2. Increase energy efficiency in new construction and renovations
3. Reduce dependence on fossil fuels
4. Conserve water resources
5. Improve energy security

This is quite a turnaround for one of the most environmentally destructive and energy consuming institutions on the planet. And it still must be acted on by an administration that has shown repeatedly that it is capable of ignoring any truth, no matter how obvious.

Pensito Review quotes an email from Buzzflash. It’s worth repeating:

Bush is exposed day after day, and he keeps on popping back up with that “Pet Goat” grin, a one-man Hurricane Katrina, leaving disarray and destruction in his wake.

It seems that even the old cliched joke about the powerful politician who would only be brought down if he was found in bed with a live boy or a dead woman wouldn’t even apply to Bush.

The American people, according to the polls, have caught on to him, but the press keeps treating him as a credible president. It’s like having a court of public relations professionals, under retainer, report the news.

Hmmm…that may be exactly what’s going on.

You have a President who should be shunned, and the lone Senator, Russ Feingold, who tries to censure Bush is shunned instead.

The people who had the courage to create this great country are spinning in their graves at the craven capitulation of most of our elected officials.

We deserve better than a morally corrupted, cowardly rubber stamp Congress.

Amen!

Got this from Dennis Kobray on the Green All Views listserv.

Into this anti-carbonated climate comes a potentially bigger bombshell that could spell disaster for the industry. Last month, the FDA quietly revealed that some soft drinks were found to contain the human carcinogen benzene in levels up to 10-20 parts per billion (ppb) — four times the acceptable limit found in drinking water. Benzene, a chemical linked to leukemia and other forms of cancer, forms in certain beverages under certain conditions, such as exposure to heat and light.

http://www.alternet.org/story/33380/

Sopranos a Dangerous Gig

Last night we saw one guy in the mob try to get out. He inherited money, wanted to retire to Florida. But there are no smooth exits from the family or the show. The guy was clearly stamped as this episode’s sacrificial lamb. You wanted to scream at the TV: “Run for your life!” This was the equivalent of the obscure Star Trek crewman who beams down to an alien planet with Kirk, Spock and Bones. On first glimpse you know he’s dead meat.

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A United Nations report to be released this week will reveal that half of the world’s 500 biggest rivers are seriously depleted.

The Nile and Indus are greatly reduced by the time they reach the sea; the Colorado and Yellow River rarely reach the ocean at all; the Jordan and Rio-Grade are dry for much of their length.

This week’s UN report will officially warn the world’s governments of an “alarming deterioration” in the planet’s rivers,lakes and other freshwater systems, a “disaster in the making” according to the report.

Epidemic Hits Species Hailed for Revival, Then Weakened by Polluted Waters

A wasting disease that kills rockfish and can cause a severe skin infection in humans has spread to nearly three-quarters of the rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay, cradle of the mid-Atlantic’s most popular game fish.

The mycobacteriosis epidemic could carry profound implications for the rockfish, also known as striped bass. The fish fuel a $300 million industry in Maryland and Virginia, but because the bacteria kill slowly, effects on the stock are only now emerging.

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Employers Sharply Criticize Shift in Unionizing Method to Cards From Elections

In seeking to equate Mr. Raynor with foreign dictators, the business-backed group that ran the advertisement was trying to discredit the most successful strategy that unions have used to try to reverse a decades-long slide in membership.

That strategy is known as card checks, a process in which companies grant union recognition once a majority of workers sign cards saying they favor a union. Unions increasingly want to use this procedure to replace the traditional organizing method: secret-ballot elections overseen by the National Labor Relations Board.

Many businesses oppose card checks because they say the procedure makes it much easier for unions to secure majority support, often giving management little chance to present its case against unionization. But unions say companies often prevent fair elections by firing and intimidating union supporters.

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