Friday’s Mini-Report

June 20, 2008

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* 100-year floods are only supposed to happen every 100 years: “For the second time in 15 years, Keith Aubuchon found himself packing his belongings and evacuating his home to escape a ‘100-year’ flood of the Mississippi River. He returned and remodeled his house after the flood of 1993. This time, he doesn’t know if it will be worth coming back.”

* Obama on coastal drilling: “Believe me — if I thought that there was any evidence at all that drilling could save people money who are struggling to fill up their tanks by this summer or this year or even the next few years, I would consider it. But it won’t. And John McCain knows that.”

* MoveOn.org is shutting down its 527: “MoveOn, the advocacy group supporting Barack Obama, has decided to permanently shutter its 527 operation, partly in response to the Illinois Senator’s insistence that such groups should not spend on his behalf during the general election, I’ve learned from the group’s spokesperson. MoveOn’s decision, which will dramatically impact the way it raises money on Obama’s behalf, is yet another sign of how rapidly Obama is taking control of the apparatus that’s gearing up on his behalf.”

* Bush has threatened a veto, but this was an encouraging vote anyway: “A bill to enhance parental leave benefits for federal employees passed the House by a wide margin yesterday…. Under the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act, federal and congressional employees would receive four weeks of paid parental leave after birth or adoption, or taking in a foster a child. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) would have the discretion to grant an additional four weeks of paid leave. Employees could still use accrued vacation days as part of their parental leave, and the bill would make it easier to use sick leave to care for a new child by eliminating the current requirement to demonstrate medical need.”

* Hmm: “An aide to Gov. Chet Culver said Thursday that Republican presidential candidate John McCain ignored the governor’s request to cancel a campaign visit amid a massive flood recovery effort in the state.”

* Everyone saw the news about ice on Mars, right? Wired posted a very helpful visual, showing the apparent melting.

* Noted without comment: “In a brochure announcing its ‘Red Hot Summer Sale’ Diebold, now known as Premier Election Solutions, is selling off everything from used touch-screen voting machines ($600/each) to ballot boxes ($1,000/each), voter and poll supervisor smart cards that are used to initiate voting on machines on election day ($2.00/each), and tamper-evident security seals ($0.15/each) that are supposed to protect machines from intruders.” (thanks for J.C. for the tip)

* I can’t imagine why more newspaper editors don’t balk at what appear to be vile and racist political cartoons from Pat Oliphant.

* I don’t know what’s worse, what Cheney did, or that he’ll get away with it: “Vice President Dick Cheney has won his battle to withhold records from the public despite efforts by Congress and other critics who say they should be open to scrutiny…. ‘He has managed to stonewall everyone,’ said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. ‘I’m not sure there’s anything we can do.'”

* In Chris Matthews’ world, six-point leads are sizable when it’s McCain who’s ahead. If Obama is up by the same margin, a six-point lead is “almost … negligible.”

* On a related note, given Matthews’ on-air misogyny, MSNBC would have been smart not to go with an ad for a “Hardball” segment on Michelle Obama that featured “female silhouetted dancers” in the background. Seriously.

* Sign of the times: “Atrios asks why the dateline on this financial story is Bangalore. Because Reuters now covers U.S. financial markets from India. Fun stuff.”

* Why isn’t solar a bigger part of the energy policy discussion? (thanks R.K.)

* If NPR is so liberal, why is the McCain campaign picking up campaign workers from the NPR staff?

* And finally, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) didn’t need to offer us any additional evidence of her nuttiness, but she keeps doing so anyway. In her latest gem, Bachmann insisted that drilling ANWR would be good for Arctic wildlife, because oil pipelines would become a “‘coffee klatch’ for the caribou.”

Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.

Why isn’t solar a bigger part of the energy policy discussion?

I recently watched a great documentary, “A Crude Awakening”, about the limited supply of oil and other fossil fuels. This documentary also discussed alternative sources of energy and solar was, by far, the most attractive.

Why? Bioenergy isn’t as efficient as most people think and results in competition between energy and food (as we’re already seeing). Nuclear has geopolitical, financial and safety issues plus, like fossil fuels, the world’s supply of uranium is limited. The amount of energy that can potentially be generated from wind or tidal sources is relatively limited. Solar, on the other hand, has none of these disadvantages, and the technology already exists.

President Bush’s home in Crawford is powered by solar energy. He doesn’t know much, but on this issue, at least with regard to his own survival, he’s ahead of the curve.

  • Obama is taking control of the apparatus of his campaign, asking progressive 527s to step back and not assert their narrative into the campaign. Obama supports the FISA compromise. Obama endorsed ultraconservative Democrat John Barrow of Savannah over progressive Democrat Regina Thomas because Barrow supported Obama early in the campaign. Loyalty trumps issues.

    My stomach hurts.

  • ‘He has managed to stonewall everyone,’ said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. ‘I’m not sure there’s anything we can do.’”

    Don’t stess Henry… you are on time and on target.
    Keep pressing for the docs. Every which way. Use every possible tool.
    It’s cool. We don’t want to prosecute anyone now. Not while Bush can pardon.
    Just information gather Henry.
    That’s where we are right now.
    Gather the info… and wait… and wait… and wait… for the coming Democratic majority.

    And then, with eight years to prosecute: Go for Richelieu’s windpipe and scrotum.
    Make him an example of what America democracy thinks of Kings and their immoral ministers.
    You’ve got 8 years to “dick” wtih Cheney… Henry.
    Good times are on the way…
    Keep your chin up old boy!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Richelieu

  • there’ll be smoke a-plenty rising from the grounds of the Naval observatory for 11 solid weeks, starting the night before the election. I don’t think Cheney can move the evidence to Texas (SMU) quickly enough; it’s probably spread out in too many places—so he’ll have to centralize it and burn it.

    Too bad that the UN doesn’t have the gumption to conduct a massive raid on Fortress Cheney. Just think of all the goodies they’d find. Give the domestic stuff to the bloggers and Congress, and use the international violations of law to bury the wretched old Borg….

  • A SOLAR GRAND PLAN: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-solar-grand-plan

    Look.
    It is all right there.
    The numbers… the whole enchilada.
    That is a bona fide Scientific American article.
    Think: Reputation. Science. Rationalism.

    You want to create domestic jobs? Grow the economy? Make America safe? Lead the world in sustainable tech? Be free again? Get all Americans looking to forward to the future with pride? Unite this country?

    Wake up everyone!
    That’s our ticket…

    If you have itunes…
    Here is a link to a SciAm podcast that discusses The Solar Grand Plan:

    http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?i=21488532&id=122384595
    Listen to that for 30 minutes.
    It will change your life.

  • He returned and remodeled his house after the flood of 1993.

    Perhaps not the wisest of plans, even without forewarning of this year’s rains.
    You know, there’s a reason they’re called floodplains.

  • Thanks, ROTFLMLiberalAO for a couple of great roll outs.

    The technology is ready. On the following pages we present a grand plan that could provide 69 percent of the U.S.’s electricity and 35 percent of its total energy (which includes transportation) with solar power by 2050. We project that this energy could be sold to consumers at rates equivalent to today’s rates for conventional power sources, about five cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). If wind, biomass and geothermal sources were also developed, renewable energy could provide 100 percent of the nation’s electricity and 90 percent of its energy by 2100.

    But what about wave and tide power?
    Just wave and go with the flow — the long-awaited tide sure is turning.

  • joel hanes said:
    Perhaps not the wisest of plans, even without forewarning of this year’s rains.
    You know, there’s a reason they’re called floodplains.

    Good point. At least put the house up on pylons. There are houses from the thirties up on stilts on the Arkansas side of the Mississippi Bridge from Memphis. Survived many a flooding. In Hawaii many of the houses have the carport on the bottom with living quarters above that.

  • Great news about Mars. I know it won’t help in the election, but it’s pretty cool.

    Solar energy is for all intents and purposes both unlimited and everlasting (say five billion years at least). Just think of the tiny fraction the earth intercepts at the enormous distance of 93 million miles. The rest of that energy just blows right past. It is beyond imagination the amount of power that could be harnessed. Check out the article ROTFL #6 cites, from the January 2008 issue of Scientific American. Really. It’s just awesome. Everything we could ever need, right there, we just have to get off our asses and get it. It is mindboggling that we didn’t start decades ago.

    A couple of years ago I read that a 150 mile by 150 mile square (22,500 square miles) in Nevada) could produce sufficient solar energy to power the entire world with electricity.
    It’s that enormous in potential.

    Imagine putting solar receptors on the moon someday. Wouldn’t even have to uglify our deserts. There’s just no end to what we could do. But we lack vision. We just don’t do anything anymore. We’re just stuck. Why?

    It’s worth remembering that most sources of energy are solar, except nuclear and geothermal. Fossil fuels are a dirty form of stored solar energy. Most wind is solar. All the vegetation on the earth is powered by solar energy. If stupid plants can do it, why can’t we?

  • Seems to me that if the billions upon billions that have been squandered on Bush’s “war of choice” had been put to work upgrading this country’s infrastructure, it would have provided jobs and a safety net for those poor millions living along the Mississippi and in New Orleans.

    And then George Bush, instead of going down in history as the worst president in our history, might have been hailed as a new FDR, putting people to work while improving our country.

    But, no, he chose to undermine our country

  • Bad timing. I just got a fundraising email from Obama.

    Dale —

    Since we announced our decision not to accept taxpayer funds for the general election, tens of thousands of people like you have come forward to declare their independence from a broken system.
    …
    Support our campaign for change and declare your independence today to help reach our new July 4th goal of 75,000 donors.
    https://donate.barackobama.com/match
    Thank you for everything,
    Barack

    Sorry Barack. Catch me later.
    Dale

  • Waxman should just give up on the Cheney docs. Why fight a fight you might not win? It makes him so weak standing up for what is right. What a principled putz.

    Oh, I love just being a part of the rationalization crowd. It’s so much easier to only hold Republicans accountable, and even then not really. Whee. Pass me the Soma.

  • Bad timing. I just got a fundraising email from Obama.

    Me, too. In response, I shared some explicit observations with his folks on the irony of starting a “declare your independence from broken government” mini-campaign on this day.

  • Sorry Barack. Catch me later. -Dale

    I got that, too. I unsubscribed. You get to leave a reason why you’re unsubscribing. Maybe, if enough people unsub or stop donating, he’ll do the right thing.

    If money talks, make him listen to ours instead of the telecoms.

  • I also got email earlier today from MoveOn:

    Dear MoveOn member,

    Yesterday it was announced that some congressional Democrats cut a deal with President Bush to give a get-out-of-jail-free card to phone companies that helped Bush illegally spy on innocent Americans.1 Senator Russ Feingold says the “deal is not a compromise; it is a capitulation.”2

    The vote is today. We can stop this bad bill if Representative ***** and other Democrats vote against it.

    So how will MoveOn feel about Obama’s support of this “bad bill?” Especially after dismantling their 527 at his request.

    Frankly, it should be reinstated so they can continue to fight for progressive ideals, no matter who the enemy, Democrat, Republican, McCain, or Obama.

  • Dale, @13,

    That was my reaction to *yesterday’s* solicitation, simply because he was staying silent on the subject of the “compromise” coming down the pike. Today, once he gave his — barely qualified — *support* to it, I nearly melted the “intertubes” in response.

  • Cedar Rapids, where I used to live, has had a few floods above 19 feet over the last 150 years. NONE of the floods were over 20 feet. That is why the 93 flood at 19.7 feet was considered a 100 year flood.

    This flood was 32 feet. I don’t know how many standard deviations above the mean it was because I don’t have the yearly figures to calculate it.

    However, it appears that this was not a 500 year flood. It appears this was something closer to a 1,000,000,000,000 year flood. Yes, I am serious that a flood like this should never have occured since the start of the universe. Of course, if the earth is only 6000 years old then all bets are off.

    Therefore, this flood gives VERY STRONG evidence that something has changed. I don’t know what it is. Is it more dams and levies upstream? Is it climate change? Is it something else? I don’t know.

    What I do know is that we will have a lot more 100 year and 500 year floods over the next few decades. I don’t know when our society will realize that these disasters are far more common than previously thought. However, we will continue to suffer terrible losses until we do.

  • nicole,

    I noticed the link tags were acting funny a bit earlier. I actually got them to work right by leaving out the quotes around the URL. Shrug. It’s just been one of those days, I guess.

  • John Dean was on Olberman tonight and he seemed to find some hope for future criminal prosecutions in the new FISA bill. So maybe all is not lost. I’ll wait til Turley or Bruce Fien or Glenn Greenwald weigh in on what Dean said.

  • I missed the details but apparently the most recent NEWSWEEK poll has Obama up by 15; 51-36. If I find out more, I’ll update, but does anyone want to make bets as to who will, eventually, be the Republican nominee — because it’s becoming more and more obvious it won’t be McCain unless the Republicans just plan on punting this election.

  • Prup, I’ve been saying what you’re saying for a long time now.

    Watch for – god help us – a MittRomney/JebBush ticket.

  • Hey, I’m sittin here trying to use tags, stretching my memory. Damn i like to bold– and then i like to blather on more. Now I’ll include a vaguely intriguing link and keep typing. Woo hoo.

    Thanks for the tip doubtful. Got it down now!

  • CB: re Mars, per the article, the ice didn’t melt (turn from solid to liquid), but it did sublimate (go directly from a solid to a gas). Just a minor (scientific) correction.

    Re Obama and FISA: disappointing, though he is against telecom immunity. But c’mon, what about the 4th amendment?

    Speaking of Obama, he’s talking about how the Rs will use race and fear against him: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080620/pl_nm/usa_politics_obama_race_dc
    Pretty smart to bring it up. He’s got a knack at neutralizing attacks before they get too big.

    Finally, Michele Bachmann: what an IDIOT (but of course we already knew that).

  • In Chris Matthews’ world, six-point leads are sizable when it’s McCain who’s ahead. If Obama is up by the same margin, a six-point lead is “almost … negligible.”

    You’re comparing six of one with half-dozen of the other. There’s no comparison.

  • I just got home from work to be greeted with the fund raising email from Obama. I unsubscribed and also let him know that, due to his support for the FISA legislation and telecom immunity “compromise,” I took down his yard sign and along with the Obama button I had been wearing on my backpack put it in the trash.

    “Change,” “a new politics”-my ass! Obama’s support for the FISA “compromise” is as Washington politics as you can get.

    I am disgusted, discouraged and pissed off! Forty years I’ve been voting and it’s been just one corporate controlled asshole after the other.

  • doubtful, Libra and Joe, I didn’t think of responding to the email or unsubscribing. That’s a great idea.

  • Goldilocks @ 8: On the following pages we present a grand plan that could provide 69 percent of the U.S.’s electricity and 35 percent of its total energy (which includes transportation) with solar power by 2050.

    The article says we’d have to cover about 30,000 square miles with solar collectors. Think about this: Imagine completely covering one square mile with solar collectors (and their supporting infrastructure). Big job, no? Well, you’d have to do twice that amount every day, 7 days a week, for forty years. And don’t forget you’ll have to keep them clean so they’ll stay efficient, meaning you’ll have to pressure-wash them regularly (as existing solar farms in the southwest already have to do frequently). Where’s the water going to come from—in the desert, no less—to keep 30,000 square miles of panels clean? How much labor is it going to take just to keep them clean, not to mention maintain them? What’s their expected life span?

    You can’t just blithely throw around numbers like this and assume it’s easy or cost effective or even possible. Scaling up to areas like this is incredibly difficult and expensive. There are better and more realistic ways to produce energy cleanly.

  • I know it isn’t popular in liberal circles to say this, but we really should rethink nuclear power in this country. The French have been refining it for the last 30 + years. They have developed a method for reprocessing 96% of the fuel which is then usable in the reactors again. The remaining 4% they bond with other substances and create a glass-like substance that takes only 200 years (not thousands) to decay to safe levels.

    Further, the dangers have been greatly reduced in the newest plants.

    This in conjunction with solar and wind and tidal energy could nearly wipe out our need for fosil fuels over the next 15 to 20 years.

  • Oh, another goodie from that solar article: storing electricity by compressing air underground, then releasing it and burning it with natural gas later. You’d be burning 30-40% as much natural gas as you would to just run a NG turbine straight out. Meaning you’re burning fossil fuels, and plenty of them, for this “clean” solar-powered world. Oops!

  • Thanks Hannah (no. 27), I was hoping I wouldn’t be the only one to correct this use of “melt.”

    President Lindsay, I haven’t read the article yet, but it was my impression that thermo-solar generators stored energy with molten sodium or some such, no FF involved. I would also question what necessitated any scaling. Couldn’t these plants be part of a distributed network? It seems any loss of economy of scale would be more than made up for in avoiding transmission loss.

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