http://www.mdgreens.org/montgomery/blog Expanding democracy's potential Tue, 16 Oct 2007 10:53:47 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Voters in Cary, North Carolina became the first in the state to use instant runoff voting, and the vote seems to have gone very smoothly. "I thought it was really positive," said Alex Funk, a retired engineer who biked to the Herbert C. Young Community Center to vote. "I mean, why do this ... http://www.mdgreens.org/montgomery/blog/2007/10/16/860/ NEw IRS data shows that the wealthiest 1% of Americans earned 21.2% of all income in 2005, up sharply from 19% in 2004, and surpassing the previous high of 20.8% set in 2000, at the peak of the previous bull market in stocks.  The bottom 50% earned 12.8% of all income, ... http://www.mdgreens.org/montgomery/blog/2007/10/15/859/ "I'm sick and tired of only hearing the bad news. Why can't someone talk about the good news?" Captain Edward Smith, Titanic, 11:40 PM, April 12, 1912. http://www.mdgreens.org/montgomery/blog/2007/10/14/858/ The National Research Council has released a report that claims increasing corn ethanol production will stress the nation's fresh water supplies. Growing lots more corn using current farm practices will come at a huge water cost to Nebraska and other states where the fuel is made. Industrial farming methods would ... http://www.mdgreens.org/montgomery/blog/2007/10/13/857/ In the first step toward the Green Party's drive to get on all 51 ballots next year, the Arkansas Green Party submitted 17,197 signatures to the state board of elections yesterday.  If they have 10,000 valid signatures, they will be able to nominate candidates for any partisan office in the ... http://www.mdgreens.org/montgomery/blog/2007/09/27/856/ In Toledo, Ohio's city council elections on September 11, 2007, Green Party candidate outpolled the incumbant Republican candidate in a three way race.  The results in the 6th district were: Democrat Lindsey Webb 1,403; Green David Ball 615; Republican Joe Birmingham 462. Webb and Ball will compete in a runoff on ... http://www.mdgreens.org/montgomery/blog/2007/09/24/855/ The following chart shows world oil production as well as production of other oil liquids. All appear to have peaked. Chart is reproduced from The Oil Drum. http://www.mdgreens.org/montgomery/blog/2007/09/21/854/ The Northwest Passage across Northern Canada is completely ice free for the first time ever, as Arctic ice cover dropped to around 3 million square miles this summer, a million square miles less than the previous recorded low.  Arctic ice cover has dropped by an average of around 100,000 square ... http://www.mdgreens.org/montgomery/blog/2007/09/17/853/ She was definitely one of my favorite authors. I haven't felt this sad since I was in junior high and E. B. White died. http://www.mdgreens.org/montgomery/blog/2007/09/08/852/ According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, Arctic sea ice hit a record low of 4.42 million square kilometers on September 4. The lowest absolute minimum previously recorded was 5.32 million square kilometers on September 20–21, 2005. With several more weeks to go, the absolute minimum ... http://www.mdgreens.org/montgomery/blog/2007/09/06/851/