http://afp.google.com/…

Pitching his message to Oregon’s environmentally-conscious voters, Obama called on the United States to “lead by example” on global warming, and develop new technologies at home which could be exported to developing countries.

“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,” Obama said.

“That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen,” he added.

Sounds like more of this green globalization totalitarianism that the far eco-left has been pushing for years. I hear more and more Obama supporters comment that they like the guy but they really don’t know who he is or what he’s about and that worries them. Shouldn’t that be a prerequisite for supporting someone? You shouldn’t be second guessing your vote because you were too lazy to do research on the guy you’re helping put into power yet enthusiastically promoted before hand.

The more Obama opens his mouth the scarier he gets. It pains me to say this but given the reality of the situation… that we will likely have an even larger majority of Democrats in the House and Senate… I’m starting to hope that if one of the top 3 are to win… McCain wins in November just to provide some sort of conflict between the two branches. The two parties and in particular McCain and Hillary are very much alike… but they have to put on a show for those who believe they are in fact quite different. That show may be enough to help minimize the damage done. This in no way means I’d vote for that warmongering idiot. Just speculating.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/…

The worldwide effort by supermarkets and industry to replace conventional oil-based plastic with eco-friendly “bioplastics” made from plants is causing environmental problems and consumer confusion, according to a Guardian study.

The substitutes can increase emissions of greenhouse gases on landfill sites, some need high temperatures to decompose and others cannot be recycled in Britain.

Many of the bioplastics are also contributing to the global food crisis by taking over large areas of land previously used to grow crops for human consumption.

The market for bioplastics, which are made from maize, sugarcane, wheat and other crops, is growing by 20-30% a year.

The industry, which uses words such as “sustainable”, “biodegradeable”, “compostable” and “recyclable” to describe its products, says bioplastics make carbon savings of 30-80% compared with conventional oil-based plastics and can extend the shelf-life of food.

Concern centres on corn-based packaging made with polylactic acid (Pla). Made from GM crops, it looks identical to conventional polyethylene terephthalate (Pet) plastic and is produced by US company NatureWorks. The company is jointly owned by Cargill, the world’s second largest biofuel producer, and Teijin, one of the world’s largest plastic manufacturers.

Pla is used by some of the biggest supermarkets and food companies, including Wal-Mart, McDonald’s and Del Monte. It is used by Marks & Spencer to package organic foods, salads, snacks, desserts, and fruit and vegetables.

It is also used to bottle Belu mineral water, which is endorsed by environmentalists because the brand’s owners invest all profits in water projects in poor countries. Wal-Mart has said it plans to use 114m Pla containers over the course of a year.

While Pla is said to offer more disposal options, the Guardian has found that it will barely break down on landfill sites, and can only be composted in the handful of anaerobic digesters which exist in Britain, but which do not take any packaging. In addition, if Pla is sent to UK recycling works in large quantities, it can contaminate the waste stream, reportedly making other recycled plastics unsaleable.

Last year Innocent drinks stopped using Pla because commercial composting was “not yet a mainstream option” in the UK.

Anson, one of Britain’s largest suppliers of plastic food packaging, switched back to conventional plastic after testing Pla

in sandwich packs. Sainsbury’s has decided not to use it, saying Pla is made with GM corn. “No local authority is collecting compostable packaging at the moment. Composters do not want it,” a spokesman said.

Britain’s supermarkets compete to claim the greatest commitment to the environment with plant-based products. The bioplastics industry expects rising oil prices to help it compete with conventional plastics, with Europe using about 50,000 tonnes of bioplastics a year.

Concern is mounting because the new generation of biodegradable plastics ends up on landfill sites, where they degrade without oxygen, releasing methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. This week the US national oceanic and atmospheric administration reported a sharp increase in global methane emissions last year.

I’m not sure that the government is subsidizing this bio-plastic but I don’t doubt it given the same parent company gets lots of subsidies to create corn based ethanol. Looks to me not enough research went into this bio-plastic plan. How much does one want to bet the idea was pushed on the stores by people who didn’t know better or just wanted to look like they were green? If you look at even the IPCC reports there is little or nothing that can be done which would make a significant impact on the current trends, assuming we have any significant impact on this trend in the first place. If we just let the market work, as the scarcity of oil increases so will the prices and customers will demand a better product. That process will be more drawn out and likely a lot more reliable then this current ram rod method we are receiving from the government. There would be real incentives to get it right for the long haul and those who don’t get it right won’t be subsidized by the government and their impact will be minor. These unintended consequences seem to occur very regularly in the government central planning system.

Part 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Entertaining and interesting. As I’ve said before, it’s good to see another face putting out these ideas on a national forum. Doesn’t say he’ll run but he really doesn’t seem to say he won’t. “Give me ballot access and all beat them all.” Will anyone in the LP approach him? There are a lot of LP candidates right now and I don’t know that we need another… but Ventura is surely better than a good portion of them.

You really have to love how partisan and clueless those pundits are. Jesse is up there ripping the system a new one and pundits try to classify him as simply as a “independent voter.”

Catch the name calling at 6 minutes into the second video.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/…

I couldn’t stand to watch the whole thing… nor did I take notes this time but I’ve a few things to point out.

• The very first thing mentioned was the whole race/gender arguments going about. That they all wish to stop talking about it. That race nor gender matter and shouldn’t be part of their campaigns. The second thing mentioned is how the three on stage are qualified to be their. Hillary immediately brings up her gender and talks about what she has accomplished as one.
• They continue to make race and gender an issue throughout the first half of the debate and none of the candidates cared to stop the questions. Even after a member of the audience started yelling about how all the questions where referring to race/gender.
• Just like all the Republicans minus Ron Paul… the Democrats don’t understand economics. Their drivel about the economy was pathetic. It’s like a child’s ignorant view of the world. They speak of surface level issues.
• Hillary accuses all the Republicans of being prowar. Wanting to continue the Bush administration’s plans. Anyone who pays any attention knows that’s not the case. If Mr. Kucinich had been on the stage I’d hope he would have pointed that out along with how none of them on stage have a consistent stance on the war.
• None of the candidates attending obviously care much that others still in the race are ignored. NHGOP had the conviction to pull their sponsership when Hunter and Paul were left out of the forum in New Hampshire. Stereotypically the Democrats are supposed to be for equality even recently wanting to reenact the Fairness Doctrine. Yet Gravel and Kucinich are left out without even a mention.
• They spoke of universal healthcare. Unfortunately they lie and really mean compulsory health insurance. While they usually mean the same thing politically, conceptually they are very different. Universal heathcare as people generally think of is not possible and compulsory health insurance gives better rates and service to those who are worse off and hurts those who are healthy. It’s also a blatant infringement on a persons right to spend their money as they see fit. Throw it on top of workers comp, SSI, etc.
• Opposing Yucka Mountain is retarded. As is opposing nuclear power plants. They are the cleanest and most efficient forms of energy production we have available. I don’t care if opening a new nuke plant a week wouldn’t make a huge difference on CO2 emissions. It’d provide us with more and cheaper power so we can more easily remove coal plants. The nations fear of nuclear waste disposal is fairly unfounded by all accounts I’ve come across including my father’s who worked in the field for >15 years.
• They seemed to all support manditory civil service or at least encouraged it. I thought the 13th amendment stopped that kind of thing.
• I can’t recall much else. They all scare me.

One last thing. Bill Clinton the other day said something like: I don’t think race or gender has cost Hillary or Obama any votes… put it probably got them some. Is it really good to admit that your supporters are bigots and supporting you just because of your gender/race? I thought the Democrats were against that kind of thing. If a Republican had said that they were getting votes because they are male and white in contrast to the woman and the darky their would have been outrage.