Filed under: Current Events | Tags: Al Gore, CEO, Climate Change, Copenhagen, Global Warming, Huffington Post, John Mackey, Whole Foods
Whole Foods CEO, John Mackey, is speaking up again. He is one of many prominent libertarian-minded voices that has decided to enter the spotlight and open himself up for criticism. This time it’s on the subject of government involvement in climate change and Mackey’s disapproval of current proposals. This comes despite his Whole Foods stores’ notoriety of being proactive in the environmental movement. However, according to Mackey, the climate change hype is not supported by sound science.
An article by an independent blogger was published on the Huffington Post yesterday admonishes Mackey’s nerve to take issue with climate change science. He notes how he’s often fought for Mackey in defense of Whole Foods, but after Mackey’s lashing out against universal health care and now climate change, he’s lost all patience.
Read the article here.
I chose to engage with a few commenters at the Huffington Post. Read a few of my comments after the jump. Will others follow John Mackey’s lead? I hope so.
Filed under: Current Events, Political Action | Tags: Al Gore, Apple, Cap and Tax, Cap and Trade, Climate Change, Countdown, Global Warming, Huffington Post, Keith Olbermann
Browsing through the Huffington Post on a daily basis has revealed to me that the climate change issue, otherwise known as “global warming,” is still a hot topic amongst many.
Theory: Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I understand that climate change is something that happens naturally and can’t be stopped (i.e. natural forest fires, volcano’s etc.) or is the fear is that what we are doing (pollution-wise) is throwing it out of balance or speeding up the inevitable. If the latter is true, is it possible we are giving humanity’s environmental impact a little too much credit? Not that we don’t affect this planet, but hasn’t nature proven to be more of a force than the “permanence” of humans?
Scientific analysis: I agree that looking at 10 years of data and assuming you know anything about climate change is bogus (like Keith Olbermann modestly points out), however, I believe with a planet that is also scientifically said to be billions of years old, examining 150 years of data is also too insignificant, too small a sample size to declare the world is ending. Is it possible that warming cycles [or cooling] like the one we are experiencing happen every fifty, twenty or five thousand years?
Variables: At what cost? If people are unemployed, homeless and starving, why spend all this money and have these government initiatives that handicap our economy even more for something that is still speculative?
Conclusion: As individuals we should care for our environment regardless if climate change is real or not. And businesses and individuals should not be allowed to pollute their neighbor’s property, public or private. It seems as if most base their climate change theories on empirical evidence with a few arbitrary scientific numbers thrown in from time period A to time period B (as do the global warming “debunkers”), but have they concerned themselves with the empirical evidence of what government has to gain from all this? Before we enter the new “cap and trade” world, let’s think about the consequences of our government’s involvement before we calvary in the state’s version of the green revolution.
p.s. I posted similar comments from this story on a Huffington Post article and I received one interesting response:
“You are absolutely incorrect when you assume that going green necessarily hurts the economy. That old canard has actually COST our world economy trillions of dollars. The auto industry, for example, was allowed to follow your logic. No real restrictions were placed on their ability to make a quick, environmentally suicidal sale, regardless of its cost to our environment and economy. And for that it died.
If we had slapped serious government controls on their behavior years ago, as did the Japanese and Europeans, our auto industry would be thriving. Instead, your philosophy prevailed. How is it environmentally OR economically healthy to let our auto industry “laissez-faire” its way straight into a graveyard?”
My response is simple: The reason the auto industry became such a burden on our economy was again because of state regulations that kept competition out and what could have been the eventual evolution of the auto industry (see Tucker car). Not to mention the government then turned around and gave billions (multiple times) to said auto makers. When the government invested in “green technology” we lost billions on ethanol. Needless to say he hasn’t quite convinced me more government regulation and intervention is even capable of saving us from climate change, that is if it’s a bad thing. Perhaps the better question to ask is: why is it that whenever government gets involved in whatever it does it becomes corrupted and favorable to big business?
Filed under: Current Events, Political Action | Tags: ben bernanke, Campaign For Liberty, Daily Show, End The Fed, federal reserve, Jon Stewart, New York, Ron Paul
On Tuesday, September 29th, Ron Paul made a tour of New York for a End the Fed book signing, Daily Show appearance and a spontaneous protest at the steps of the New York Federal Reserve bank.
After the morning book signing at Borders Books located in the Financial District of Manhattan, Dr. Paul asked, “is the Federal Reserve building close by?” After he found out it was, he led the way for a photo op in front of the Fed’s most powerful branch, the New York Federal Reserve Bank. In the video below be sure to catch Dr. Paul’s exchange with the Federal Reserve Police.
After the Fed march, I was lucky enough to be invited into the Daily Show green room reserved for Dr. Paul. As the Manhattan C4L coordinators, Nick Spanos & Isaiah Matos, Jesse Benton, Dr. Paul, and myself were waiting for the show to start, Jon Stewart came in to welcome Ron back to the show. He said how much he enjoyed the book (which you could tell was true by the line of questioning) and dove right into asking the congressman all about libertarian philosophy and life without the Federal Reserve.
Jon was completely engaged with Dr. Paul and seemed to hang on his every word. At the conclusion of the pre-show conversation I’d have to say Mr. Stewart in his heart wants to jump on board with everything Ron was saying to him about protecting individual liberty but what he gets hung up on (as do most liberals) is the fear of corporate power being wielded without government regulation. “What about the robber barons of the 19th century?” he inquired of Paul.
Somehow we must properly articulate that without the Fed, without artificial credit, without tax subsidies, and with sound money and properly enforced fraud laws, taxpayer parasites such as General Motors and Goldman Sachs would not exist as they currently do. Most of these companies cannot function without millions of dollars worth of daily credit and would probably not exist at all in a free market economy.
Filed under: Current Events, Historical Evidence | Tags: Barney Frank, Dancing With The Stars, Ron Paul, Tom Delay
From CQ Politics:
Long before he danced with the stars, then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay two-stepped all over fellow Texas Rep. Ron Paul’s hopes of overseeing the Federal Reserve, according to an account provided by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank .
I know we love to hate on Barney Frank, but if we are to stay objective, the Democrats seem to have shown Dr. Paul more respect than anyone from the Republican leadership in the past.
In 2003, Ron Paul was in line to be chairman of the Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee of this committee. Specifically and solely to frustrate Ron from being the chairman, they merged the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy with the Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy. Ron Paul then complained to Tom DeLay, and Tom DeLay told [then-Chairman Mike] Oxley [R-Ohio] ‘Don’t change it’ … [T]wo years later, even though they merged the two subcommittees in the progression, Ron was then again ready to be chairman, this time of the combined one.
[Then-Rep. Deborah] Pryce [R-Ohio] was dragooned to come back and assert a subcommittee chairmanship … Ron at that point said to me, ‘I guess I have to wait for you to be chairman for me to have any authority around here.’ The Republican Party was a staunch defender of the Fed against Ron Paul.”
Paul and Frank share an interest in auditing the Fed, though neither Frank nor any other member of the House has signed onto Paul’s bill to repeal the Federal Reserve Act.
Let’s be thankful Frank scheduled the H.R. 1207 hearing with Tom Woods of all people. It was well within Barney Frank’s power to squash this bill. Don’t forget to watch tomorrow morning at 9am eastern.
Filed under: Film, Political Action | Tags: Campaign For Liberty, For Liberty, Movie
Last weekend, the movie For Liberty, received two proper premieres at the Campaign For Liberty Valley Forge northeast regional conference and in Manhattan, sponsored by the New York City Campaign For Liberty.
Without a doubt filmmakers Chris Rye and Corey Kealiher should be commended for their hard work (1 year in the making) on an inspiring documentary of the grassroots movement that fueled the Ron Paul 2008 presidential campaign. Sitting in the both premieres I found myself a bit misty-eyed which would then shift to laughter and at times anger. Whatever it was, I felt that charge I had experienced last fall when money bombs (the 6 million kind) we’re falling from the sky. The film portrays the grassroots as a true force to be reckoned with.
However, the Campaign For Liberty Michigan state coordinator, Adam de Angeli, provides important critiques of the film’s subject and stresses that the excessive praise of the grassroots may have indirectly placed a stamp of disapproval to the official campaign staff when the film omits any diagnoses of what went wrong and why we weren’t able to see the political results we were all hoping for.
Filed under: Current Events, Music, Political Action, Second Life | Tags: ben bernanke, federal reserve, hr 1207, Ron Paul
Tax Day is coming up and I know that there are a lot of Tax Day Tea Parties taking place on April 15th, because let’s face it, most everyone hates the IRS and most everyone hate taxpayer Wall Street bailouts. The only problem, the IRS should be of less concern than the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve make the bailouts and big government wars possible- not revenue from our federal income taxes. It’s the hidden tax called inflation of the money supply we should be most concerned with. Simply put, there is no regulatory body that Fed Chairman Bernanke has to answer to- under the current law. Congress still has the power to reclaim authority over the Fed, but they have chosen not to uphold their duties explicitly stated in the Constitution. The Federal Reserve is responsible for creating money and manipulating the money supply which eventually cause our booms and busts. If the politicians want money to spend, I want them to look me in the face when they take it from me.
As you can see, many have tried to get information out of the Fed in the past, but they don’t have to answer our questions because they are above the law.
Fortunately, back in February, Congressman Ron Paul introduced legislation, H.R. 1207, “Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009“ a one page bill to give Congress the ability to audit the Federal Reserve and find out where all this TARP money has gone and what other transactions (money it has created out of thin air) the private bank has made.
Ron Paul has introduced similar bills at the start of each new congress including ones to completely abolish the Fed but this bill has had the most support than any of the 
previous. It was introduced with 12 co-sponsors but has since accumulated 55, which for most bills is a lot of co-sponsors. But to be honest, this should be a good test to see who needs to be thrown out of congress, democrat or republican, liberal or conservative, if you are an honest legislator you are going to have some trouble trying to explain to your base why you didn’t want to vote for transparency and you didn’t want oversight over where your tax paid (inflation & IRS) TARP money was going.
The thing is, there is something you can do about this. You can write to your congressmen, your senators (at their local and DC offices) to have them support H.R. 1207, to audit the Fed. Then in addition to the April 15th Tea Parties, End the Fed activists will be holding a nation-wide demonstration at Federal Reserve banks across the country on April 25th. That’s the Saturday before congress comes back for a new session. We want them to know that we want the Fed abolished, but more importantly for the sake of sound money. Everyone needs to learn about commodity-based money. We must educate ourselves and a good way to start is by reading a book, one that I am almost finished with, called The Creature From Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin. It’s a 600 page anthology about the history of banking, money and the Federal Reserve. If you don’t have time for that, Dr. Paul has a great book coming out soon called: End The Fed. Pre-order it today, every American human being needs to educate themselves on this subject. I’m making it my birthday gifts to all of my friends.
Check out the set list after the jump:
Filed under: Historical Evidence, Music, Second Life | Tags: 25th Birthday, 5-10-15-20, Chris Atkins
Dustin / Chris | “why, I outta…”
Today is April 7th, 2009, and if he were still alive, my childhood best friend, Christopher Atkins (more on him later), would be turning 25 years old on this day. Therefore I will be celebrating the quarter of century mark in a little over a week myself. Coincidentally, Pitchfork Media started a new feature today titled 5-10-15-20, in which they ask artists or whomever to cite their favorite songs at the increment years of 5, starting at age 5 (and if you know me, you know I love increments of 5).
However, the more I thought about it, skipping from the song that I most identify and significant at age 15 to then age 20 leave out so many milestones missed. I understand this is just a fun exercise but looking at my own history this negates the all important discovery of Hardcore music, Sufjan Stevens, Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Steve Reich, and Miles Davis, all I perceive to be some of the most pivotal turning points in my musical evolution. Oh well, here goes…
Dustin Reid, 24 years, 11 months, 17 days :: click more to read on
Filed under: Film, Music, Second Life | Tags: Documentary, Micachu, Must Read After My Death
Must Read After My Death is a documentary that consists of hours and hours of home audio recordings of Allis Dews at the beginning of the great civilization movement in America of the 1960’s. It looks hauntingly candid and the compulsion I feel to see this movie is nothing short of disturbing. That’s humanity, we’re voyeuristic by nature, and we love a good tragedy. We’re so lucky, because the older I get, the more it seems everyone of our lives is just that- a tragedy.
Studio press release:
“Must Read After My Death follows Allis, her husband Charley and their four children in Hartford, Connecticut. Charley’s work takes him to Australia four months each year, so the couple purchases Dictaphone recorders as a way to stay in touch throughout Charlie’s extended absences. A modern woman at least a decade ahead of her time, Allis struggles against conformity – against the conventional roles of wife and mother. She finds the recordings cathartic and, with the family’s cooperation, incorporates them into their everyday existence.”
The craziest thing is this movie is directed by one of the grandchildren. That’s a bold move to air your family laundry out in the form of cinema. Although I guess celebrities have been doing that for years. I wonder how this movie plays out over the next Dews’ family reunion.
Check out the set list after the jump:
Filed under: Current Events, Music, Second Life | Tags: General Motors, Wagoner
Geithner: “WE OWN YOU!”
I debuted at a new venue last night called the Gnarled Oak where my good friends Enigma & Xi run things. Many of you are familiar with it already I’m sure since it had over a million in attendance on its first night. I now have a weekly gig at this popular place :: Sunday’s 9-11pm slt. (Pacific Time)
It’s looks much like an old English public bar, a place the management at General Motors might find themselves soon, drinking, pondering, just how they drove their company into the ground and allowed the U.S. Government to gain control of its personnel. So now their CEO Mr. Wagoner is out because he was stalling too long on restructuring plans. He also may not be the last:
“In addition to pushing out Mr. Wagoner, the task force said GM is in the process of replacing the majority of its directors. Kent Kresa, a longtime director, will serve as interim chairman. Mr. Wagoner will be replaced as CEO by Mr. Henderson, who has been serving as chief operating officer.”
This concerns me deeply, although we know that the CEO probably should have been fired, hell, he shouldn’t have a job in the first place because GM shouldn’t exist right now had Congress obeyed the Constitution. The bottom line is, another GM crony steps in to perform the exact same way. Yes, they should restructure and would have on their own had Congress been the responsible parent and NOT bailed out these guys – but if they choose not to now despite the government’s will and said government will not allow the car companies to operate in the way of GM’s choosing, then they need to call it what it is: nationalization. This is a dangerous precedent to set having government officials afforded the power to fire private sector employees.
But, to be honest, our government hasn’t tried to do the right thing in a long time with any decision it’s been faced with. The only thing I know to do is to educate people on our Constitution and what “real” economics is and what a real economy is supposed to be like. Even some members of parliament are beginning to call out this obvious push to one world government, and don’t let any Fabian asshole tell you otherwise. Please, give us a break and stop treading on our Bill of Rights.
Then again, these auto companies have sold their souls to the devil when they asked for bailouts, and are now reaping what they’ve sowed. I just wonder if now… can the President can fire Murkville employees? As long as we continue on our path of no success I suppose the government will stay disinterested. They only take interest in those they can take from.
With the sabotage continuing, the comeback kids (IMF) will be plenty busy. While you check out this important lesson (note: read the article, do not only watch the video for the video contains false assumptions of socialist idocracy) on how we got into this mess, also check out the set list from last night at the Gnarled Oak after the jump:
Filed under: Film, Historical Evidence, Music | Tags: Documentary, Lightning Bolt, Pitchfork
In 2003, I was dating a girl who went to Texas Tech and “worked” at the college radio station KTXT (R.I.P.) who would be hosting the noise rock band Lightning Bolt later that year. Now as I often did back in those days I scheduled a trip to see her or friends around good shows in the area of where they lived. This was no exception, a chance to see Lightning Bolt in the hostel town of Lubbock, Texas sounded pretty damn exciting.
I remember walking into this open air venue that was nothing short of an industrial regurgitation of a building thinking, there is no other place more fit for this show. Lightning Bolt is for – not everyone. It takes most of the “thinking” out of music and operates purely on instinct and hand singals. Chippendale drums like a muppet on sticks with a microphone shoved up his mask so he can vocalize how his drum heads are feeling. Most people will hate it, but it’s impossible to say before you can feel the breeze of the crowd around you. This documentary, that is being hosted for free for this week only on Pitchfork, which was shot on the same tour I attended back in 2003, would be the closest thing otherwise.
