Given it's Earth Day/Week (depending on who you talk to), I thought I'd pick out a few of the best articles I've found on Climate Progress that might be of interest.

NY Times Magazine -- ... is full of junk. Don't bother reading it, and by the way those little articles about global warming you see occasionally? Try to avoid those, too. What relatively little journalism remains at this point is focused entirely on Obama's "bitter" comments. This is a good article for those who believe everything they read.

Future Cars -- One new car gets up to 300 miles per gallon, and guess what? It's already a hot commodity in California, where it's raked up 1,400+ pre-orders. Also, the article looks at a Nova story with more information about newer cars.

Carbon-Saving Ideas -- I particularly enjoyed this piece, because it shows just how much a few small, bright ideas can add up when it comes to cutting Co2. California has a lot on its plate, attempting to reduce carbon emissions by 30 percent, but it's finding that the easiest way to do it is to rely on a variety of smaller initiatives that aren't costly and easy to implement. Good to think about, given Wisconsin will probably have something like this soon (only it'll be 10 percent, most likely). 

It's nice out, so spend some time outside. But it's going to rain this weekend, too, and before you turn on your TV set and kill a few more brain cells, catch up on these particular treats (I even included a video to help you cope with all the words!)

House passes FISA legislation -- And not only that, it DOES NOT include immunity for the Telecom Companies. Immunity was almost a guarantee until people started getting active and making phone calls and sending out emails. If you were a part of this, then pat yourself on the back. It's a good start.

Climate Protections killed -- by President Bush, of course. Because he believes that a FREE MARKET can regulate pollution on its own without government standards.

No, the Free Market Can't -- An article by Greg Palast about Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, who argues that free markets CANNOT regulate their own pollution and are INEFFECTIVE in producing research.

Thom Hartmann -- He's in Darfur following the genocide in progress. He's a liberal talk radio host, but of course Milwaukee doesn't have a liberal talk radio station. We're stuck with Mark Belling the Racist and Charlie Sykes the God-Knows-What. You can listen to Thom Hartmann LIVE for free on airamerica.com 

Once you're done with those articles, please enjoy a short video compilation:

 Have a great weekend,

Ken Brosky 

What's the connection between the two, you ask? Well, for starters, they're both extremely incompetent. Make no mistake about it, Osama bin Laden is an egomaniac with relatively low intelligence when it comes to terrorism (he was NOT the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. He funded them and gave his "blessing," and little else). To learn more about just how fallible al-Qaeda truly is, I suggest you pick up a copy of The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright. The book outlines al-Qaeda's history and the history of modern Islamic extremism as well as the tactics that have been used by multiple intelligence agencies in attempting to track it and/or put a stop to it. A great book, to be sure.

But what does this have to do with Secretary of State Condi Rice? Turns out quite a lot. Because when Rice was the national security adviser, it was her job to brief the president on emails like "Bin Laden Determined to Strike  in U.S." According to a new book coming out by New York Times Reporter Philip Shenon, Rice was more interested in playing the role of supportive wife to President Bush rather than actually attempt to do her job in a responsible manner. If this sounds slightly malicious, you're right--when our national security adviser receives DAILY reports of al-Qaeda's attempts to carry out a terrorist strike against U.S. civilian targets, it should at the VERY least be taken moderately seriously.

Here are a few other emails Rice received that were subsequently ignored, according to Shenon. Read through them and ask yourself whether you would take this threat seriously.

“Bin Ladin Public Profile May Presage Attack” (May 3)

“Terrorist Groups Said Co-operating on US Hostage Plot” (May 23)

“Bin Ladin’s Networks’ Plans Advancing” (May 26)

“Bin Ladin Attacks May Be Imminent” (June 23)

“Bin Ladin and Associates Making Near-Term Threats” (June 25)

“Bin Ladin Planning High-Profile Attacks” (June 30)

 Is that enough for you? Click here to read the full article.

The reason I'm posting this is because there are a lot of right-wing fantasies running around regarding Condi Rice and a run for the presidency. Not only was Rice a completely incompetent national security adviser, she is currently an extremely incompetent Secretary of State, incompetent to the point that journalists have absolutely no interest in following her around the world.

Our own diplomats think she's doing an awful job.

David Kay, former weapons inspector in Iraq, says she was the worst national security adviser in U.S. history. 

Now let's get to something related but much more important: the 9/11 Commission. Exactly how incompetent was this Republican-led investigation? Quite incompetent, it turns out. And that shouldn't come as any surprise, given that the Republican Party has argued since Reagan that government just doesn't work, which is why Republicans seem to go so far out of their way to prove it. Not only were Repubilcans defending Rice and others in the Bush administration, there is evidence now that they were attempting to discredit Richard Clarke. From ThinkProgress:

"But 9/11 Commission staff director Philip Zelikow was not interested in pursuing criticisms against Rice. Zelikow — who had worked closely with Rice on the Bush transition team in 2000 and 2001 — “made it clear to the team’s investigators that Clarke should not be believed, that his testimony would be suspect.” "

I think one of the reasons there are so many 9/11 conspiracy theories is primarily because the 9/11 commission simply didn't answer enough questions. There are so, so many questions still unanswered, and as long as our government doesn't pursue the truth, those questions will be answered by the fringe theorists and outrage will continue to grow. But make no mistake: the incompetencies of the Bush administration--especially those of Condi Rice--helped ensure 9/11 happened.

Yours,

Ken Brosky
 

For those of you who think this environmental disaster was old news, guess what -- Exxon is still fighting to keep every penny out of the hands of people and communities damaged by its incompetence. Remember when Exxon went in front of the cameras and promised to compensate everyone and everything was going to be okay and *insert-typical-corporation-speech-here*? Well, that hasn't panned out, exactly.

So what happened on that fateful night, anyway? I'm sure you remember, as I do, that some captain was drunk and hit a reef, right? I mean, that's what I picked up from the news reports and stored in my memory. But what if I told you that the ship's radar system--a radar specifically used to locate underwater reefs--was turned off that night? What if I told you that, in order to cut costs, Exxon stopped maintaining and using their radar system? Would that be enough to outrage you? What if I told you that Exxon wasn't even supposed to  have a ship in the water that night? According to investigative journalist Greg Palast:

"On the night of March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez was not even supposed to leave harbor. Here’s why. Tankers are not allowed to sail unless unless a spill containment barge is operating nearby. That night, the barge was in dry-dock, locked under ice. Exxon kept that fact hidden, concealing the truth even after the tanker grounded. An Exxon official radioed the emergency crew, “Barge is on its way.” It wasn’t.
Had the barge been in operation, it would have surrounded the leaking ship with rubber skirts - and Paul’s home, and Alaska’s coast, would have been saved. But Exxon couldn’t wait for its oil."

Click here to read Greg Palast's entire article about the TRUTH regarding the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, and the connections to John McCain. 

So now Exxon is fighting all the way to Supreme Court, probably because it knows that the Supreme Court has been stacked with corporate cronies like John Roberts. Case in point: John Roberts is obviously dismayed that Exxon could be forced to actually pay for its incompetence, and he's made it absolutely clear that he's not going to vote in favor of the plantiffs suing Exxon-Mobil to clean up the mess and restore the ecosystem along the coastline. Here's an excerpt from an article by Dana Milbank from inside the Supreme Court:

"So what can a corporation do to protect itself against punitive-damages awards such as this?" Roberts asked in court.

The lawyer arguing for the Alaska fishermen affected by the spill, Jeffrey Fisher, had an idea. "Well," he said, "it can hire fit and competent people."

The rare sound of laughter rippled through the august chamber. The chief justice did not look amused.

The plantiffs in this case--thousands of fishermen and natives of the area--have not received a dime yet in punitive damages. Exxon-Mobile's strategy is simple: fight it till they're all dead.

I hope this upsets you.