Jul
30

Open Thread

By Gordon Smith · Comments (1)

Crack them knuckles. Hunch over the keys. Get your eyes wide. Fire freely away, and let the others know what gallops across your neurons.

Categories : Open Thread
Comments (1)
Jul
29

Sustainable Asheville

By Gordon Smith · Comments (1)

David Forbes takes a look at the movement on an important ordinance that will alter the way we build in Asheville. Go give it a read and join the conversation at Mtn. X.

Jul
29

About Elizabeth Warren

By Tom Sullivan · Comments (4)

About Elizabeth Warren — she came to Netroots looking for support, and she found it. She needs yours too.

Everyone agreed she should be the head of the new consumer protection agency, but Obama’s Rubinistas aren’t too keen on the idea. Warren is not a technocrat. She’s not a Washington insider and not owned by the right people.

Warren has a unique quality when she speaks about the plight of American families. There is an urgency. Her voice doesn’t exactly crack, but you feel her passion for their struggles. She wears it right out in the open. You know she believes in the mission. That’s what scares the Big Money Boyz: she would actually do the job. All the more reason average people trust her to lead the effort.

So we have to convince Obama to do the right thing. (Here‘s where you can do that.) Beside, going into this fall’s elections, Obama will need all the good karma he can get, says Paul Krugman:

I have to say, I don’t get the administration waffling on Elizabeth Warren at all.

Leave aside the merits of appointing Warren, which are considerable, and think about the politics. At this point, not appointing Warren would be seen by the base as a slap in the face, and would seriously dampen enthusiasm going into the midterms. And Democrats need every bit of enthusiasm they can muster to avoid a Republican takeover of the House.

Digby talks about Warren’s advocacy for families and for how the revolving door between D.C. and Wall Street must end:

I heard Warren speak at Netroots Nation and she was eloquent on all of this. It’s clear that her focus is on working families and not the banks and Wall Street. It’s vital that someone represents those interests and she’s the right one to do it because she comes to it with a political constituency (albeit one that is despised by certain members of the administration) but one which Obama will need as he goes into 2012 against the spoiled princes who are so rich that they are now more worried about being loved by strangers than they are about taking care of the golden goose. (After all, the administration has hardly laid a substantive glove on them, but they get hysterical at every tiny affront to their dignity.)

Give Elizabeth Warren a recommend here. Or you can go straight to the White House.

Comments (4)
Jul
29

Fiddling

By Gordon Smith · Comments (2)

I’ve been hearing for months that the Senate wasn’t going to pass any meaningful legislation regarding energy and the environment. Never mind that the House passed it ages ago and that even our own Heath Shuler was on board for addressing the single most important issue facing our nation and our world, Harry Reid’s Senate is planning to pass a gutted bill that doesn’t acknowledge the urgency of the problem and that leaves out any controls on carbon emissions. May our children forgive us.

NOAA released a report yesterday that underscores the massive failure at work:

The 2009 State of the Climate report released today draws on data for 10 key climate indicators that all point to the same finding: the scientific evidence that our world is warming is unmistakable. More than 300 scientists from 160 research groups in 48 countries contributed to the report, which confirms that the past decade was the warmest on record and that the Earth has been growing warmer over the last 50 years.
[...]
More and more, Americans are witnessing the impacts of climate change in their own backyards, including sea-level rise, longer growing seasons, changes in river flows, increases in heavy downpours, earlier snowmelt and extended ice-free seasons in our waters.

Comments (2)

July has been full of fun, fireworks, frolic, festivals, and festivities.

But now it’s back to business. Come join your friends and fellow local-government wonks for this evening’s LiveChat session – which is simulcast across three websites: Ahevegas, AshevilleNow, and ScrutinyHooligans.

Council’s agenda and supporting documentation can be found here. Those of you new to ACC-LiveChat, be sure to review the guildelines and instructions. (Especially if you’re wondering why comments may take a few minutes to show up.)

You can find the online video live-stream and chat-box after the jump. (Chat starts after 5pm. You won’t see a “start” button in the chat box until 5pm.)

Read More→

Comments (3)

Just doing our part in getting this brilliant documentary distributed.

If you’re a BitTorrent user, go here for the .torrent file and seed it. There are links for direct downloads as well.

Categories : Action, Culture Jamming
Comments (2)

Prof. Elizabeth Warren and Sarah in her Elaine Marshall for U.S. Senate tee shirt at Netroots Nation 2010

So okay, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid were at Netroots. (Harry Reid got the less warm reception.) Sen. Al Franken closed out the conference. But the real rock star treatment went to TARP Congressional Oversight Panel chair, Prof. Elizabeth Warren, who perhaps got more applause and support than anyone.

A close colleague was so pleased to meet Warren that she asked if I would post the picture.

Manufacturing was a hot topic at the conference. We met these guys from the Alliance for American Manufacturing at the conference in Las Vegas. Executive Director Scott Paul mentioned the possibility of holding a forum on manufacturing in Western North Carolina. Rep. Heath Shuler, he noted, is a strong supporter.

I recognize the venue for the America’s Future Now! conference in some shots in the AAM video, so I’d say those segments aren’t exactly man-on-the-street interviews. Their data and presentation nonetheless raised eyebrows.

Nancy Pelosi addressed American manufacturing on Saturday after delivering a special taped message from President Obama:

Pelosi spoke about “Making It in America,” the Democrats’ manufacturing agenda that she said would roll out in coming weeks to help restore and create industrial jobs. “Jobs, jobs, jobs is very important, but we have to get it done,” Pelosi said. “People have to see the difference between what the Republicans want to do about this — nothing — and what we are advocating.”

No, Madame Speaker, people will have to see what we are *doing* about it if jobs, jobs, jobs is to be anything more than a slogan.

Jul
25

Poem for a Sunday Evening

By shadmarsh · Comments (2)

The White Room

Charles Simic

The obvious is difficult
To prove. Many prefer
The hidden. I did, too.
I listened to the trees.
Read More→

Comments (2)
Jul
25

Sunday Morning Music

By Gordon Smith · Comments (1)
YouTube Preview Image

Comments (1)
Jul
24

RIP Daniel Schorr

By Admin Hooligan · Comments (3)

Truly the end of an era.

Thank you for everything.

Categories : Passing
Comments (3)