Heh….Dubroots, mahn he leave you in my hands this week. And I…I know what to do…

take dis you….

The once heard, never forgotten Mahavishnu Orchestra with John Mclaughlin, Billy Cobham, Jan Hammer, Rick Laird and one intense violinist Jerry Goodman….

Of exta bonus points. What time signature is this in?

And…

Oddly enough this song is titled: ‘You Know, You Know’

Res Ipsa Loquitor…..

Any questions?

Maybe I’m Wrong…..No not about Barry…about ‘Oil Never Coming Down’…..

These guys are playing a role in the global market. They are not happy that their government is not going to subsidize their fuel costs anymore You see in many Asian countries that’s exactly what’s been going on. To forestall ‘unrest’ the governments have been spending massive amounts to keep fuel prices in their countries down. But….now running out of the ability to do this, out of money they are, the price off fuel is rising so…the demand is falling.

These guys are pissed but this might mean, might, that our costs will fall somewhat due to the lack of demand.

Read more about this and  a lot more on the ‘oil crisis’ at Robert Oak’s blog where guest blogger New Deal Democrat starts his post off with a bang:

‘I was in the midst of writing a diary about how there aren’t "2 Americas", a la John Edwards, but 3, when it became clear that so much information has become available this week concerning the forces affecting Americans’ demand for oil, that it demanded its own diary. Even if the world has reached the plateau of "Peak Oil" and supplies will gradually be rationed at higher and higher prices, there are going to be booms and busts along the way. I’m here to tell you that the evidence suggests that there has been a speculative boom in the last 6-9 months and we may shortly see a bust, echoing the sudden decline of oil from $80 to $55 a barrel just before the 2006 elections. The boom and the bust, if it happens, have everything to do with (1) Subsidies to gas consumption by Asian governments, (2) hoarding (in tanker ships), and (3) unintended consequences of the Fed’s bailing out billionaires, that have added about $1 to every single gallon of gas you buy.‘

Whoa, I don’t believe I read that part about you an me subsidizing the Bear Stearns bailout to the tune of $1 per gallon in the SF Chronicle. But then I wouldn’t would I. It’s all about how Barry is gonna be Pres. Great, follow that Kabuki there but if you want a head’s up on what’s coming:

Energywise…

Taxwise…state anyway…

Technologywise….

Econmically speaking….

This is the place to come.

Take the time to read this post….

Here’s the lead in paragraph:

‘This is the Achilles heel of the blogosphere, not so much being bought out as being seduced, having your ego stroked, being invited inside the magic circle where the sheer force of your intellect and the brilliance of your insight will get the big talking heads on TV or the columnists and editors from the Big Papers to frown, deep in thought, and then grudgingly admit that you are right, by golly. See, see, look, I’m having an impact on the MSM! Look how important I am! Look how powerful I am!’

Indeed, I have personally witnessed this. Bloggers I know, both local and national, are under the delusion that the MSM now wants their input. Bloggers I know, both local and national, have in my opinion and from the threads and their behavior been paid by Obama’s campaign. The ‘blogging’ phenomena started as a citizen’s based movement to provide a forum for open and free discussion. This it no longer is. I have been booted off several sites, not because I talked about slitting Hillary’s throat or  lynching Obama which comments abound today on many A-List sites or should I say O-List sites, and I might be booted off several more. Doesn’t matter as I made clear to Kid Oakland yesterday if he had a problem with what I was saying on his thread then come out in the open and debate the issues I raised. Threats, made off thread,  promising to boot me from the thread if I did not change my approach or tone, in other words ‘Shut Up!’ are the order of the day from folks like him Bowers, Kos and Marshall. These guys have gotten such an inflated ego now, ala Barry, that anyone who disagrees with them is due for the chop.

Well as I posted in: ‘Censorship, The Committee of Three and a Warning from the Past.’  I’ve seen this before and it gets worse folks. Your progressive blogosphere is going totalitarian. With oodles of cash sloshing thought it courtesy of Mr. ‘Yes we can!’ an outbreak of egomania we are ripe for the ‘Big Disillusionment’ which will come as the millions of new users of the ’sphere find that the only difference between Kos, Marshall, Bowers and KO is that they make a lot less money than Tweety and PumpkinHaid. The ’sphere remains a very big place and is still self-policing. dKos’ reach and traffic fell off the cliff last month. That site still has a long way to fall but I believe it is going away. The utility of it is gone. If you don’t agree with the mob there they will lynch you and that, in the long run, hardly makes the place appealing to visitors new or old.

I will be looking for more sites like Anglachel’s Journal or The Confluence where new voices may be heard.. In the long run Darwin’s evolutionary meme will winnow the field. Whether we are left with a few packs of howler monkeys or move on to a truly civilized ’sphere depends on whether Robert Wright was correct in his seminal book: Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny. I think he is and will continue to blog as if that is true. I think that when historians look back upon this summer they will be writing about how once again the Left revealed itself just as intolerant and tending to the Fascist in the mass as the Right has always been in it’s internal politics. 1968 is repeating itself in a lot of disturbing ways one of the most being the ‘Progressive’ movements thirst for conservative blood blinding it’s leaders to the fact that they, in reality, have no real agenda apart from, ‘Get the Republicans’.

It will be fascinating to see how this plays in the GE.

My prediction is that, ‘Git ‘em, get them dang ReThugs.’ isn’t going to be as successful as Miss Nancy and her pal Senator SnakeOil think it is. But then, what do I know?

Flash Alert: Today is a big day in the Dem Primary cage-match-from-hell, by the way I want to thank Howard Dean for fucking this up so gotdamn much, and you should tune in to The Confluence, FDL and Anglachel’s Journal. If you want some Obaman input MyDD  is still okay although I would not let the kids read the threads. They are not good example of how to ‘make nice’. Have a good weekend and remember what the Yogi said, Berra that is, ‘It ain’t over ’til it’s over.’

Flash Alert II: Looks like MyDD may be liveblogging, with a video link, the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee where, if you are not tuned in, the primary battle may be decided by the committee’s ruling on the status of delegates from FL and MI.

Hey! All this yellin’ and screamin’ about Barry….Wright….Sister Beezlebub…Scotty’s new book….Limbaugh….Well, guess what?

The Bush Presidency is a huge success. Click on the chart above to see just
how well he’s done ‘helping’ the nation recover from the Clinton fiasco.

Then….clik this….

as you can see things are so cool I posted a real cool clip for ya!

How you ‘creative class’ folks doin’ Ever thing Kooool?

Thas nice.

David Sirota in Oakland, June 11, 2008

Syndicated columnist and author, David Sirota will be in Oakland on Wednesday, June 11th to introduce us to his new book, “The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington” (more info on this title is available here). Drop by the Rockridge Library, at 5366 College Avenue in Oakland (map). Please note that this visit with our friends from the Oakland Democracy for America Meetup in Rockridge will be held instead of our regular meeting at Luka’s on 6/11/2008.

Following is an excerpt from a review of David’s book which was provided by BuzzFlash.com:

We have known David since he worked as press secretary for then Congressman Bernie Sanders. Sanders, now a U.S. Senator from Vermont, is a big fan of BuzzFlash, and we are big fans of Sanders and David Sirota, who is now a syndicated columnist, author, and populist cheerleader working out of Denver.

Sirota is a youthful Jim Hightower, who chastises the D.C. establishment, whether Republican or Democrat, for caving into the influence of big corporate money on political decisions in the Capitol.

“The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington,” as usual is not influenced by any coziness between the author and the D.C. insiders — as is often the case, even with progressive journalists. Sirota is a true maverick, who isn’t awed by the scepters of power on Capitol Hill or in the White House. He’s cast his lot with the people who make up our democracy and against the corporations who buy our government.

Here, too, is a review of The Uprising from BookClubs.ca:

Job outsourcing. Perpetual busy signals at government agencies. Slashed paychecks. Stolen elections. A war without end, fatally mismanaged. Ordinary Americans on both the Right and Left are tired of being disenfranchised by corrupt politicians of both parties and are organizing to change the status quo. In his invigorating new book, David Sirota investigates whether this uprising can be transformed into a unified, lasting political movement.

Throughout the course of American history, uprisings like the one we are seeing now have given birth to powerful movements to end wars, protect workers, and expand civil rights, so the prospect of today’s uprising turning into a full-fledged populist movement terrifies Wall Street and Washington. In The Uprising, Sirota takes us far from the national media spotlight into the trenches where real change is happening—from the headquarters of the most powerful third party in America to the bowels of the U.S. Senate; from the auditorium of an ExxonMobil shareholder meeting to the quasi-military staging area of a vigilante force on the Mexican border. This is vital, on-the-ground reporting that immerses us in the tumultuous give-and-take of politics at its most personal.

We’ll look for you at the Rockridge Library on June 11th.

Why Gas Prices will not go down….ever….

clik on the graphic for a bigger clearer look…not that that will make you feel better.

Do you know anything about what ‘Traditional’ Economics says about ‘market ‘elasticity’, and what that meme says about price vs. supply?

No?

Huh…

Bet you wish you’d taken macroeconomics…er, maybe not what little they taught in
school is no longer relevant anyway.

More later.

A “biofuel” which is NOT ethanol

Algae: a carbon-neutral energy platform fueled by sunlight. Photo by Steve Jurvetson.

In light of the skyrocketing cost of petroleum-based fuels, 100 years ago was now is an ideal time to look into the sorts of technologies which deserve more attention from you, me, the broader investment community, environmentalists, and our “government.” (That last one makes me want to both laugh and cry.)

One exciting new areas of research we should look into involves a technology called “renewable gasoline” and which is manufactured from algae — not corn. No food crops required. The folks leading in this technology are a San Diego-based company called Sapphire Energy, and their announcement of May 28, 2008 is noteworthy:

Pioneering effort alters ‘food vs. fuel’ debate, supports American energy independence with revolutionary platform that harnesses microorganisms, sunlight, CO₂

Leading investors commit over $50 million to scale effort; production innovator Brian Goodall hired, team leader behind first biofuel 747 flight

Sonoma, California – May 28, 2008 – Sapphire Energy announced today they have produced renewable 91 octane gasoline that conforms to ASTM certification, made from a breakthrough process that produces crude oil directly from sunlight, CO₂ and photosynthetic microorganisms, beginning with algae.

“Sapphire’s goal is to be the world’s leading producer of renewable petrochemical products,” said CEO and co-founder Jason Pyle, speaking from the influential Simmons Alternative Energy Conference. “Our goal is to produce a renewable fuel without the downsides of current biofuel approaches.

“Sapphire Energy was founded on the belief that the only way to cure our dependence on foreign oil and end our flirtation with ethanol and biodiesel is through radical new thinking and a commitment to new technologies.”

The end result — high-value hydrocarbons chemically identical to those in gasoline — will be entirely compatible with the current energy infrastructure from cars to refineries and pipelines.

Not biodiesel, not ethanol. And no crops or farm land required.

The Sapphire platform offers vast advantages – scientific, economic and social – over traditional biofuel approaches.

Company scientists have built a platform that uses sunlight, CO₂, photosynthetic microorganisms and non-arable land to produce carbon-neutral alternatives to petrochemical-based processes and products. First up: renewable gasoline. Critically important, in light of recent studies that prove the inefficiencies and costs of crop-based biofuels, there is no ‘food vs. fuel’ tradeoff. The process is not dependent on food crops or valuable farmland, and is highly water efficient. “It’s hard not to get excited about algae’s potential,” said Paul Dickerson, chief operating officer of the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy “Its basic requirements are few: CO₂, sun, and water. Algae can flourish in non-arable land or in dirty water, and when it does flourish, its potential oil yield per acre is unmatched by any other terrestrial feedstock.”

Scalability key to success

Sapphire’s scalable production facilities can grow easily and economically because production is modular, transportable, and fueled by sunlight – not constrained by land, crops, or other natural resources.

“Any company or fuel that hopes to solve the biofuel conundrum must be economically scalable – and that requires conforming to the existing refining distribution and fleet infrastructure,” said Brian Goodall, Sapphire’s new vice president of downstream technology. Goodall led the team responsible for the highly visible, first-ever Virgin Atlantic “green” 747 flight earlier this year. In addition to a three-decade career in the petrochemical industry, he is a corporate inductee at the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

[Press Release continues...]

In fact, Sapphire states that research is an introduction to an entirely new sub-category of fuel research that they refer to as Green Crude Production. See their take on

• The Problem
• The Solution
• The Potential

Even more encouraging is that this sort of research appears to be going in several directions at once. C|Net recently reported the following:

Sapphire said that it developed an algae process to avoid the controversy over using land for fuel crops instead of food crops.

But at this point, algae fuels are largely experimental and no company is making fuel on a commercial scale.

GreenFuel Technologies, which had to scale back a pilot site, said that it has landed a large European customer to make fuel from algae but has not shared any more information.

Sapphire is not the only company creating technology to make hydrocarbons from plants. Others include LS9, Amyris Biotechnologies, Codexis, and J. Craig Venter-founded Synthetic Genomics.

The advantage of this approach is that the fuels can be integrated into existing transmission infrastructure and can run in cars or planes without modification.

Let’s all keep our eyes on these companies and their technologies.

Who Let the Dogs Out?

A great post about just how the corporatist press works; or rather is given it’s marching orders. By way of Anglachel’s Journal we get a quote from Bob Somerby, a blogger I’ve known about for a while but really never got to know, who gives us a real look at just how certain misstatements or other ‘incidents’ become important while others….not so much.

Here’s the leadin paragraph:

‘MEYERSON (5/28/08): Had Florida and Michigan conducted their primaries the way the other 48 states conducted their own primaries and caucuses—that is, in accord with the very clear calendar laid down by the DNC well before the primaries began—then Clinton’s marchers would be utterly justified in their claims. But when the two states flouted those rules by moving their primaries outside the prescribed time frame, the DNC, which gave neither state a waiver to do so, decreed that their primaries would not count and enjoined all presidential candidates from campaigning in those states. Obama and John Edwards complied with the DNC’s dictates by removing their names from the Michigan ballot. Clinton did not.

Seating Michigan in full would mean the party validates the kind of one-candidate election (well, 1.03, to give Dennis Kucinich, Chris Dodd and Mike Gravel, who also remained on the ballot, their due) that is more common in autocracies than democracies. It would mean rewarding the one serious candidate who didn’t remove her name from the ballot when all her rivals, in deference to the national party rules, did just that.’

Read the whole thing. It’s a little convoluted what, to do with modern politics…or old for that matter, isn’t. Bottom line we have, as many have pointed out, taken on the characteristics of that society we fought for so long. Yes, children I know you think the ‘Commies’ were some imaginary Boomer boogeyman but, in actual fact, they were not. They were a group who thought you could run a society of millions with the same top down authority structure our ancestors used to control a ‘troop’ of around 150 individuals.

You can’t.

But nobody told Cheney, Bush or the Evangelicals so here we are: The few trying without much success to impose their vision of reality on the many.

Not gonna work and it’s very bad juju for us as it’s taking us further down the road to a point of no return. A point where it will be too late to fix things.

Wale up. Smell the Coffee and….

Think for yourself.

When Katie Couric is the only one who ‘gets it’ you know you are dealing with idiots….or worse….

Here is the woman who took Dan Rather’s spot:

‘…Katie Couric impressively argued that the media did fail to do its job — pointing out that the White House threatened networks which were perceived to be too critical with cutting off access to the war and that anyone who questioned the war was deemed unpatriotic and all of that "affected the level of aggressiveness that was exercised by the media"… ‘     

Not so rebutted elder newsman Charlie Gibson:

‘I think the questions were asked. I respectfully disagree with the gentle lady from the Columbia Broadcasting System [group giggles]. I think the questions were asked. . . . I can remember getting in trouble with administration officials for asking questions they didn’t feel comfortable with.

It was just a drumbeat of support from the administration. And it is not our job to debate them; it’s our job to ask the questions.’

Got that? Poor Charlie ‘got into trouble…’ what did they do Charlie make you drink Nescafe instead of your usual Cappuccino at the Presidential Pressers? Say, Charlie you still have all your arms and legs? Feet? Hands? Eyes? No blackouts Charlie? Oh good…everything’s just fine then.

No folks, this may seem like beating a dead dog but…

Clik thru and read the whole Glennzilla piece linked above, complete with video linky goodness, and you will find that since such a great job was, in fact, done on the MSM’s coverage of the run-up to and all that’s happened since in the Iraq conflict that…

Wait for it….

No changes are needed in our great corporatist media. They are doing a fantastic job keeping the people informed and actually deserve some more rewards for their work.

So….

My question to you is: ‘What relationship to the ‘facts’ of the political situation here in America do you think the corporatist press’s work bears to what you would consider reality?’

Here’s a nice poll for ya.

And give this some thought the next time someone sez: ‘Obama is a shoe in in the Fall.’ or ‘There is no way Hillary can win….’ Give these and similar statements another look and ask yourself ;

‘How does he/she, or even me, know that? What does it say that we might even be convinced of said outcome.

Here is the poll………

Have fun and remember….

As long as you think you know a lot…..you don’t really know Jack!