Catch 22

Coal power plants, which in the past, polluted air at an unprecedented rate, now have to comply with stricter air pollutant laws. But now, with the scrubbing technology that takes many chemicals out of the air, they are dumping them into rivers and lakes all over the united states. California, luckily, has very few plants that have committed such atrocities, compared with the east coast, but the problem still exists. Some plants claim that they have installed water cleaning plants that take out the chemicals before dumping the water, and then put the chemicals into a land-fill with a synthetic lining, to prevent leakage. But records still show that they are dumping amounts of chemicals into water that are still unsafe. It is affecting the health of people in the are too, and a recent study done by the E.O.A. in 2007 showed that people living near power plant landfills had an increased risk of cancer by 2,000 times higher that federal health standards. With so many more options for energy, I think that plants that cause damage like this should begin to be shut down. There are so many better options that may not be cheaper, but will at least save people money in medical bills.

Lessen our dependence on forign oil, or preserve our few remaining natural environments

A plan to drill for oil and natural gas on the Roan Plateau in Colorado has been met with a strong resistance. The area is one of the few remaining places with minimal human and cattle damage in the west, and has even been dubbed a microcosm of the west. Unfortunately, there is also supposedly a vast store of natural gas under it, that big companies are waiting on pins and needles to tap. Natural gas is a much cleaner burning fuel that releases less CO2 that oil, but to extract it often causes severe land degregation and uses alot of fossil fuels to extract. The company that wants to drill claims that it will avoid creeks, and drill holes close together to avoid causing too much damage to the environment and stress on the wildlife. But there is still run off to be considered, and roads would soon criss-cross the terrain. Wildlife gets along best when left completely alone. We should be putting more effort into developing ways to run our lives off fuels from heaven, and not hell.

A possible cure for those previously deemed incurable

In the past week, California's Stem cell agency announced that it had $230 million in grants for stem cell research for treating previously incurable diseases. This is especially exciting because in the past, the use of stem cells has been considered unethical, because given the right conditions, that group of cells could turn into a human fetus. They have much better uses though, as I have seen first hand, when I got to watch a horse have his tendon's repaired using stem cells. It was amazing to watch him recover, without the huge scars that happen when a horse has it's tendons repaired using conventional methods. Unfortunately, stem cell use in humans has not been tested yet, but it is expected to be ready for human testing in three years, which is unusually quick. I think it is great that we have this agency, because at the moment, the federal government will not fund stem cell research. I am hopeful that many cures, that were thought to be impossible will come from this research money

Drastic times call for drastic measures

The newly instated Police Chief George Gascón is now proposing that the city resume the controversial use of spies. His reasoning is legitimate: that San Francisco is an iconic city, much like Washington, or Los Angeles and that anyone wanting to make a point against the United States would be likely to use it as a target. It make sense, but I would think that since this has been publicized, anyone who is plotting something would be smart enough to move their planning operations out of San Francisco, so that the risk of them being discovered is lessened. So I don't really see the point of spies, if the enemy knows about their existence. Note: this article seems to get really off topic towards the end.

Honestly, what's the big deal?

It is now recommended that you get vaccinated for the swine flu. But really, there is very little reason behind the public hysteria that has been taking place. Typically, 36,000 people die a year from the regular flu. Granted they are usually older people, and the H1N1 virus affects younger people most often, which may be why people are so freaked out. But still, with 37 states reporting cases, in the whole country, only 24 people have had to be hospitalized, and only one person has died, and she had a pre-existing medical condition. It does spread easier, and to a different group of people than the typical seasonal flu, but I honestly don't think such a big deal should be made of it.

Have we given in to Iran's requests?

Iran has now agreed to buy Nuclear fuel from abroad, but will not give up it's uranium enrichment activity. Seeing as Western nations fear that Iran having nuclear weapons would be dangerous, It would seem that Iran's nuclear fuel would only be useful for the use of energy. Especially since the article says that Iran has agreed to ship it's existing fuel rods to France and Russia, to be made into more pure fuel rods. I am assuming that these fuel rods would only be able to be used for energy purposes, because we have agreed to it. The fact that Iran has agreed to it says otherwise though, since they seemed intent upon having nuclear weapons. The article doesn't say, but maybe their policies have changed. Iran has also decided to allow international inspectors into their newly discovered facilities, suggesting that maybe they have switched to a more conventional pursuit. However, it may also be that since they have only been able to make uranium with 5% purity, they may need help from other countries to even do anything with their facility at all.

Public Option still has wind in it's sails

Despite the fact that the public option has been met with increasing opposition, there is still hope that the senate will pass it. True, it is a different public option, than the one originally proposed, it would not be nation wide like medicare, but in essence, it is the same. Conservatives argue that it will not help lower prices and would give the government too much power. Former associate director of the White House Office of Management and Budget during George W. Bush's presidency, James Capretta says that "Government setting prices and payment regulations is very much at the heart of our current problem". But looking back on all that the former administration has done for us, if he made decisions in accordance to this expressed opinion, than it would seem that lack of government control is at the heart of our current problems. I believe, along with many other democrats, as well as the president, that a public plan will stimulate competition between other health care providers, and will consequentially lower rates. Private health insurers are against it though, because they fear it will saddle them with too many unprofitable insurers. This is a fear that I believe is the problem with this society. We are so driven by money, that we fail to see the greater good. We want to end poverty, and one of the many reasons people end up on the streets is their inability to pay off medical bills. But we fail to look at the bigger picture. Hopefully, with a public option, we will be able to break out of this unfortunate mold, and start being able to help those who need it most.

Green Horizons

The Obama administration is supporting a plan that would allow home owners to finance energy-efficient improvements on their homes, by giving them lower property taxes. Not only will this save people tons of money (about 300 to 1,200 dollars a year) but it will also create new jobs, installing the improvements. This is, in my opinion, the first step in the green revolution. If we are able to pursue this path, our future may have a market dominated by jobs for decreasing our carbon footprint. If this plan gets passed, it will not only help our environmental situation, but also our economic situation. The argument against it is that it will only create only a small number of jobs. Doc Hastings claims that“Jobless Americans can’t afford policies that just create one type of job". This policy would not only create jobs though, with companies being able to spend less on electricity, they will also be able to keep more of their employees. And sometimes, things can't start on a huge scale. The key may be to save America, one job at a time.

Pakistan is trying to play by the rules

On Monday, the Pakistani Army reported that it had made significant head way against the Taliban. They had used 28,000 troops, and had come at South Waziristan (the Taliban's stronghold) from three sides. But Pakistan forgot to take one major thing into consideration. The civilian population living there. The United Nations estimated that about 170,000 would be displaced because of the military operations. It also said that people would not be given shelter and services. Apparently they had been trickling out while the fighting was going on. I understand that an element of surprise was essential to this operation, but there should have been some measures in place to protect civilians. This incident illustrates another one of the Taliban's most detrimental tactics, their use of innocent people as shields. So the military essentially hurts the people they are trying to protect.

Don't we have more important things to dispute?

The white house is now taking a swipe at Fox news. While we have soldiers in the middle east, people out of jobs, and poverty, they are taking the time now to try to convince other news stations to sever their ties to Fox. Granted, Fox has said some pretty rude things about the current administration. And they are as Anita Dunn puts it "opinion journalism masquerading as news". But still, in life, everyone should learn to turn the other cheek. When some one is provoking you, the best option is ignore them. This method is taught in second grade, and every child knows the phrase 'sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me'. Maybe we need to remind the white house of this. And as far as it pretending to be something they are not, let them play dress up. If America is intelligent, they will see through the mask. Then again, their ratings are up by 20% this year, so this may be wishful thinking. Still, the message remains the same, Obama has better things to occupy his time.

Taliban strike again

NATO- led military forces in Afghanistan extended for a year by U.N. Security Council, following an attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul. It took place on Thursday and left 17 people dead and 63 injured, most of which were civilians. The motives seem not very clear, seeing as India is the sixth largest doner to Afghanistan, for reconstruction efforts. Why would the Taliban want to bomb their embassy? Afghan and Indian officials suspect Pakistan's spy agency to have been involved in the attack, but Pakistan denied the accusation. It makes me wonder, if the Taliban want us out, why would they keep causing problems, because that is a sure fire way to get us to stay and attempt to work things out. Terrorist groups work in ways completely foreign to the American way of thinking apparently.

Water we doing?

Scientist at NASA on friday will deliberately crash a spacecraft into the moon, to attempt to find water. It is suspected that darker craters on the south pole may contain water. So they are going to crash a space shuttle into the moon, and then send another spacecraft to collect samples of the resulting cloud, and quickly send data back to earth, to see if there was any water in the cloud, before the spacecraft itself crashes into the moon as well. Now as useful as this may be in the future to find out if there is water on the moon, right now, I think we should be putting more money into saving the earth, rather than preparing for if we destroy it.

Obama forced to compromise?

Obama, who claimed that one if his first priorities was to get troops out of the middle east, may now be forced to back a major troop increase. In fact, Robert Gibbs told reporters that pulling out was off the table. But Obama is hopefully working on a compromise. Gen. Stanley McChrystal wanted to send in 40,000 additional troops. Obama appears to be trying to steer towards a middle ground, by approving a troop increase, but more in the range of 10,000 or 20,000 new troops. In my opinion, it is good that Obama is trying to stick to his policies as much as possible, but seeing as we have been fighting a limited war for a rather long time now, and it hasn't made any radical differences, maybe we should try a different tactic. Normally I am more of an anti-war person. But seeing as we are already there, and appear to not be able to accept anything other than a win, I have changed my opinion. It may be more beneficial for the United States to put all resources towards the war. It may produce a quicker victory. But that may put too much strain on the already greatly weakened economy. That tactic may have been only useful in the beginning of the war, and now may be too late. But at the moment, we are fighting a war of half measures. We either need to commit, or pull out, without victory.

A blow from Britain

In the Guardian, author Paul Harris asks, "Will California become America's first failed state?". The article starts out with quite a negative tone, saying that"California is like a patient on life support". Not a difficult assumption to understand, considering our unemployment rate is at 12%, and the government issuing IOUs during the summer. But it is a bit of an exaggeration, California is in a bit of a sticky spot, but we are also the leader of innovation and green technology. The article gets less cynical towards the end, pointing out that while California is ranked 47/50 in education, the number of solar panels in the state has risen from 500 a decade ago, to over 50,000 now, and we generate twice as much energy from solar power than all the other US states combined. This is quite a testimonial to California's ability to adapt and move forward. The potential is there, we just need to take to take the initiative to move forward. Even if Britain is skeptical.

Economies don't just bounce back

Following the worst recession since the Great Depression, economists don't expect the economy to recover quickly. Expansion is expected to continue during 2010, but at a much slower rate than before. It is also expected to take until 2014 or 2015 till the unemployment rate falls below 5% again. But at the moment, we are not even on the downhill slope yet, because unemployment is expected to reach 10.2% in February. This would be a lot of people who would be filing for unemployment insurance benefits in the next couple of years, and that might lead to an increase in taxes. Surprisingly though, the option that is being looked at now is tax cuts, for employers that are hiring. This makes sense, but only if those who are getting jobs are spending more money, and with the statistics showing now, that more and more people are saving their money, this doesn't seem like a good option to me. but raising taxes might not work either, because then more people would stay on unemployment benefits longer, and we might never recover. So there really is no easy fix. Though the worst thing that could happen to the economy, according to the article, would be a so-called "double-dip recession" which would be lethal, according to economists. What being lethal would entail, we can only hope not to find out.

are we getting too involved in Pakistan?

Last week, congress approved a measure under which the U.S. would provide $1.5 billion to Pakistan every year for five years. The money is said to be intended for building schools, alleviating poverty and helping to build democracy. In my opinion it will be a kind of control. They would be obligated to be on our side of any matter, if we were giving them this much money. For us, this would be a very good thing. But it feels too much like buying respect and control rather than earning it. My view is shared by many in Pakistan, but for different reasons. Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesperson for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (the largest opposing party) says
"

The bill categorically states that Pakistan will cease to support terrorism and
cease to indulge in acts of terrorism," he says. "Now that is an indictment"

Personally, I think this is a perfectly viable request for the united states to make. Indulging a thing that works to complete goals by brutality, threats, and often killings should be morally wrong, in my opinion. Things appear different in Pakistan though. the other, more reasonable objection to it is that we will be paying for a friendship, based on them being a proxy state. And unfortunately, the military opposes it, and going against the military could lead to a coup. One reason I am against it is because right now, America really doesn't have any money to spare. We are already in debt with other countries, and our economy is still in a recession. Where will we get $1.5 billion to donate? But if Obama get approval, then we will get to see just how thing play out.

ChicaGO for Gold

Obama has made a bid for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Chicago. He flew all the way to Copenhagen in Air Force One to make his case. Why is this significant? you may ask. Olympics bring tourism, which is extremely beneficial to economies. This may be the boost we need to pull ourselves out of the recession. An event of this magnitude will bring thousands and thousands of people from all over the world, who need to fly in, sleep somewhere, eat a lot, and most likely do some sight seeing. Chicago is also special to Obama, because it is his home town. We've got a good shot, but the other cities in contention are Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and Madrid, giving us some stiff competition. The host city will be announced tomorrow... cross your fingers!!

Progress in Pakistan

"Obama adminsitration officials have been proud of the fact that largely because of
better intelligence, unmanned predator drone strikes against Taliban and al Queda forces in Pakistan have been more successful in the first eight months of President Obama's presidency than in the previous two years combined."
The key to this success? Better intelligence, because now the Pakistani government is more willing to cooperate, and we have a stronger U.S. counter-insurgency program on both sides of the Afghanistan border.
This article I do not like as much after this point because it then lists the number of terrorists and civillians killed, and makes it sound like we are doing target practice, or playing a video game. My only hope, is that this improvement in strikes against terrorists will accelerate our removal of troops from the Middle East, the sooner the better.

Finally, Climate change is getting the attention it needs

Obama presented a bill that would cut out green house gasses by 20% by 2020. This bill would require companies to purchase 'right to pollute vouchers' and assumes that the companies are transitioning to cleaner energy. It also proposes that more money go to research and production of greener energy. Obama is now calling climate change a matter of national security. In my opinion, this is very good. Now, finally, global warming is getting the urgent attention it needs. This bill would not affect the general population in the fact that it does not propose a Co2 tax for anyone other than big companies. A rise if prices of energy and some products may be seen, but people who own SUVs will not be forced to pay big bucks (other than at the pump). Not a perfect bill, but a huge leap in a very beneficial direction, not only for the US, but for the rest of the world too.