"It's capitalism or a habitable planet - you can't have both"

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Friday February 10, 2006 · 3:44 AM PST

2006/02/10 · 03:44

Writing in the Guardian last week, Robert Newman argues that capitalism, as we know it, is unsustainable in a world threatened with peak oil and massive climate change.

Capitalism is not sustainable by its very nature. It is predicated on infinitely expanding markets, faster consumption and bigger production in a finite planet. And yet this ideological model remains the central organising principle of our lives, and as long as it continues to be so it will automatically undo (with its invisible hand) every single green initiative anybody cares to come up with.

In other words the self-interest and greed of corporations must work against those solutions that can mitigate the effects of climate change and peak oil. This is proven, so far as it goes, by the actions of Bushco and his corporate cronies.

Chris Kulczycki

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Thursday February 09, 2006 · 3:49 AM PST

2006/02/09 · 03:49

"America will always rely on foreign oil." So says Exxon Mobil Senior Vice President Stuart McGill at a recent Huston energy conference. This is one of several belated responses to Bush's weak call for American energy independence, or at least less reliance on Middle Eastern oil. More below: Read More

Cars Cause Republicanism

Chris Kulczycki

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Wednesday January 04, 2006 · 3:37 AM PST

2006/01/04 · 03:37

George Monbiot, one of my favorite Guardian columnists and author of several best-selling books, equates libertarian car use with conservatism. Furthermore, he says that unfettered motoring causes conservatism.

Anybody can see that the red areas on the map are, for the most part, rural and suburban, places, or non-places, as J.H. Kunstler would say. They are where extensive motoring is mandatory. We also know that our liberal political base is largely in cities and towns where alternative transport most likely exists. But is it a stretch to infer a cause and effect relationship between driving and libertarianism, toryism, or even republicanism?

Chris Kulczycki

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Thursday December 22, 2005 · 3:28 AM PST

2005/12/22 · 03:28

It's being reported that in a major policy shift Bush has decided not to seek victory over Sunni insurgents. These are the same insurgents that were recently our bitter enemies. In fact, he has entered into a truce with them. That's probably a smart move, but how will it play with the far right? No wonder the White House isn't talking about it.

Meanwhile, as widespread election fraud is being reported, calls for new elections are getting louder. The Guardian says Iraq is disintegrating with power shifting to Islamic fundamentalists.

Let's go below the fold and read about Bush's policy shift and if it comes too late.
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Breaking: Bush cuts deal with Iraqi terrorists

Chris Kulczycki

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Wednesday December 21, 2005 · 2:24 PM PST

2005/12/21 · 14:24

Did I miss something, or is Bush now making deals with terrorists?

From the Moonie, I mean Washington Times:

WORLD BRIEFINGS
By Paul Martin
December 21, 2005 BAGHDAD

American diplomats called it "mission impossible" -- to bend the rules on contact with powerful anti-American Sunni forces in Iraq and negotiate a cease-fire -- all before last week's elections.

Their orders came from U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. The effort took months and culminated in a day of voting in which Sunni Arabs came out in droves after having boycotted the first parliamentary election a year ago.

The cease-fire period started Dec. 13 and ended Sunday, spanning Thursday's elections. The period passed with no major attacks on Iraqi civilians.

The effort by U.S. diplomats and military officials also redefined U.S. policy in Iraq -- a potentially seismic shift that President Bush spelled out this month in four major policy speeches that referred to three types of insurgents: "rejectionists," "Saddamists" and terrorists.

Evo Morales Wins and Bush's New Bird Shit War

Chris Kulczycki

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Monday December 19, 2005 · 3:22 AM PST

2005/12/19 · 03:22

Dec 18, 2005 -- LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Jorge Quiroga, who exit polls showed running second in Bolivia's presidential race, conceded on Sunday, clearing the way for Evo Morales to become the country's first indigenous leader.
"I congratulate the candidates of MAS that have carried out a good campaign," he said, referring to Morales' Movement Toward Socialism party.
Media tabulations of official results showed Morales with close to 50 percent of the vote and Quiroga with between 31 percent and 34 percent.

To find out what this has to do with bird shit and why Bush already has troops in place at a new airbase 200 miles from the border for a new Bolivian war of intervention, please go below the fold.
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Castro, Chavez, Bush, and a Christmas Miracle

Chris Kulczycki

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Sunday December 18, 2005 · 8:15 AM PST

2005/12/18 · 08:15

This post is about a Christmas miracle in Cuba. But this miracle comes neither from God nor Santa Claus. It is a gift from president Castro of Cuba and President Chavez of Venezuela. It is the gift of sight to six million poor and previously blind Latin Americans.

Operation Miracle has brought daily planeloads of the poor from across Latin America and the Caribbean to Havana for surgery. Most of them arrive nearly blind; but all will be able to see perfectly before they leave. Cuban doctors provide the free eye surgery, Venezuela the dollars that make it possible. The surgery treats cataracts and other eye conditions.

More below:
Read More

Wall Street Journal Slams Hybrid cars, Yes Again

Chris Kulczycki

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Thursday December 15, 2005 · 3:35 AM PST

2005/12/15 · 03:35

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." Albert Einstein.

Sometimes the absurdity of a columnist leaves me speechless. Take this column from yesterday's WSJ by Holman W. Jenkins Jr.. All I can do is shake my head in wonder.

First he writes a fake letter from Toyota (please see my post on his past column); yesterday he came out with this:

But doesn't saving oil have benefits beyond the dollars saved -- for instance, postponing the doom of civilization?

No: If Prius owners consume less, there's less demand, prices will be lower and somebody else will step up to consume more than they would at the otherwise higher price. That's the price mechanism at work. Oil is a fantastically useful commodity. Humans can be relied upon to consume all the oil they'd be willing to consume at a given price.

More absurdity below.
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The Bravest Man Who Ever Died

Chris Kulczycki

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Wednesday December 14, 2005 · 3:30 AM PST

2005/12/14 · 03:30

Last week I wrote about Jan Karski, who tried to warn the world of the Holocaust. This article is about a man who showed that courage and dedication have no limits, a man who purposely had himself arrested and imprisoned in Auschwitz to help those already there and also to warn the world of the Holocaust. His name was Witold Pilecki and he has been called the bravest man in World War II.

There is more below. Read More

Che Guevara Smacks Bush!

Chris Kulczycki

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Monday December 12, 2005 · 3:41 AM PST

2005/12/12 · 03:41

American liberals don't pay much attention to those nations south of us, but we should. They are successful at just what we are trying to do. They are throwing out corrupt crypto-fascist or Neo-con leaders and replacing them with progressives.

The US and Latin America actually have little in common beyond geography and the US's long history of aggression and domination. The US has sent troops to Latin America 87 times according to Instances of Use of Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2001 and other sources. We may never know how many times the US has interfered there covertly, how many assassinations we have paid for, how many governments we've toppled.

But the tide is turning. The spirit of Che Guevara, the charismatic revolutionary leader who is still a hero and an inspiration to many Latin Americans, is gaining strength.

Go south of the border for more.
Read More

Microcar Blogging, just for fun

Chris Kulczycki

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Sunday December 11, 2005 · 5:40 AM PST

2005/12/11 · 05:40

It's Sunday and instead of writing about energy, or politics, or torture, I thought I'd write a diary that's just for fun. How about a photo diary about cute little microcars.

Micro cars were developed in Europe and became popular after World War II. It was a time of collapsed economies and fuel shortages. That's much like what we might expect after peak oil. I remember seeing some of these cars as a boy growing up in Warsaw.

The reason for the micro car was economy. They used little fuel and tiny tires. In some countries their small engines allowed them to be driven on a motorcycle license, which is easier to get in many European countries. In Britain any three-wheeler qualified as a motorcycle. And all microcars were easy to park.

The BMW 600 was popular in Germany

Continued.
Read More

Disposable Solar Cells and other Solar Developments

Chris Kulczycki

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Friday December 09, 2005 · 4:16 AM PST

2005/12/09 · 04:16

Solar is certainly the most attractive of alternative energy technology. It's clean, long lasting, has no moving parts, and it's starting to come down in cost. If only we could figure out a way to store power for a cloudy day.

I've noticed a lot of advances in solar power in the last couple of months and I thought you might be interested. There are solar panels for the roofs of cars, solar trains (sort of), and lots more below the fold.

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"It's capitalism or a habitable planet - you can't have both"

"America will always rely on foreign oil"

Cars Cause Republicanism

Bush in deal with Iraqi insurgents, a major policy shift?

Breaking: Bush cuts deal with Iraqi terrorists

Evo Morales Wins and Bush's New Bird Shit War

Castro, Chavez, Bush, and a Christmas Miracle

Wall Street Journal Slams Hybrid cars, Yes Again

The Bravest Man Who Ever Died

Che Guevara Smacks Bush!

Microcar Blogging, just for fun

Disposable Solar Cells and other Solar Developments