Two Minutes of Elizabeth Warren ("to fix this problem, don't do those things")

Very much worth two minutes of your life.


"How we got into this hole - ... that's $4 trillion right there; part of the way you fix this problem is don't do those things..."

(hat tip Andrew Tobias; discussion at Sierra Voices )

Salon: hack a Diebold voting machine: $26 via remote control, cheaper in volume

Time to go back to paper ballots.
A Salon exclusive: Diebold voting machines can be hacked by remote control. (h/t ProPublica)

A Way to Make Motor Fuel Out of Wood? Add Water (maybe)

This NYTimes article on a Georgia company's new way of turning wood chips into biofuel is encouraging - if it works out, it'd be great news for meeting Nevada County's energy needs and clearing our underbrush.
(and no, I have not tried to work out the math here.)

Clinton: Tea Party philosophy has never worked for a country

From ThinkProgress, Clinton: ‘There Is Not A Single Solitary Example’ Of A Country That Has Succeeded With A Tea Party Philosophy

So, in tomorrow's Emery vs. Rebane cage match, perhaps the Tea Party proponent should be asked to provide one?

Video clip - early Johnny Depp doing Buster Keaton

What You Need to Know About the Horn of Africa Famine

This Mother Jones backgrounder is excellent - What You Need to Know About the Horn of Africa Famine.

Notes & photos on SYRCL's Greater Yuba River Cleanup and aftermath

Saturday was SYRCL's 14th annual Greater Yuba River Cleanup and restoration. Some photos and notes:

The American People Have Spoken

(link)

"Community PlanIt turns civic engagement into a game — and the prize is better discourse"

This is fantastic - I so want to see GV or NC(s) try this out...

Heard&learned at the boardwalk celebration last night

Photos and notes.

Tea Partiers confident in doubting climate science - The Economist

From American public opinion and climate change: No green Tea -

"Tea Partiers, unsurprisingly, tend not to believe in the phenomenon (the 53% who don't believe in global warming just outnumber the 52% who don't believe humans evolved from other animals) and are the most strongly opposed to all sorts of government action on the issue (yet quite keen, like majorities in all sorts of polling, on research into new energy sources). They also distinguish themselves in their assessment of their knowledgability, with 30% considering themselves very well informed on the issue and a majority happy that it needs no more information on the subject."

Ahem...

What is this pest? on almond, walnut, locust...?

It swathes a branch tip in webbing, and the leaves disappear.

Steve Sanfield "Freedom Riders" quote

"Back then, they thought we were crazy... People then thought the Freedom Rides were a useless venture, but they did change things. And it taught me that if you believe in something deeply enough, you can bring about change."
- from Liz Kellar's Storyteller shares tale of freedom in Civil Rights era

Venue ideas? Wed eve starts 24 hours of climate reality - for your bemused friends

Can anyone suggest a gathering place that's free tomorrow evening, where we could join together to watch this? We would need a large screen with internet connection; and NC Library community room & Seaman's Lodge are both taken.
and I, so far, am drawing a blank.

Email from 350.org - Wednesday Sept 14 - yes, tomorrow - starting at 5pm, for us - begins 24 Hours of Reality from the Climate Reality Project -

"a 24-hour worldwide marathon all about the reality of the climate crisis. Around the world, from New York City to South Africa to the Solomon Islands, people will use the power of the Internet to present their stories of living with climate change, and make clear the connection between extreme weather and the corporate carbon pollution that's changing our climate.

All the presentations...will be streamed live at ClimateRealityProject.org."

Best points made:

"The timing of 24 Hours of Reality couldn't be more perfect -- it's just 10 days before Moving Planet, the global day of bike rallies and on-the-ground events to call for climate action. It's that one-two kick of awareness and activism... "

and:

"Many of us within the 350 movement already get the basic science and reality of climate change -- yet we sometimes struggle with getting our friends to really grasp the urgency. This event is a great opportunity to help your friends see why you care so much (plus, you can always pick up a new communication tip or two)."

Stories from each of the world's time zones will be featured, starting at 7 pm in that time zone.(*)

James Bamford: Post-9/11, NSA 'enemies' include us

Yes, we remember. But have we honored them?

Your bike rack suggestions, for Nevada City boardwalk?

Of these bike rack variants, which would you prefer and why?

Tom McClintock aide's denial retracted - he was an ALEC member from 2000-2003

I asked Igor Birman to confirm that the initial denial that McClintock had been a member of ALEC had actually come from McClintock himself; it seemed odd that his name was on ALEC's Alumni list (link) and that ALEC staffers weren't responding to my emails about the discrepancy.

Birman's response today:

"Tom was indeed a member of ALEC between roughly 2000 and 2003."

“Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult,”

Wow. Read it, send it to your friends.
(Or send them Andrew Tobias's post with excerpts; it too links back to the original.)

From the article:

"A couple of years ago, a Republican committee staff director told me candidly (and proudly) what the method was to all this [Republican] obstruction and disruption. Should Republicans succeed in obstructing the Senate from doing its job, it would further lower Congress’s generic favorability rating among the American people. By sabotaging the reputation of an institution of government, the party that is programmatically against government would come out the relative winner.

A deeply cynical tactic, to be sure, but a psychologically insightful one that plays on the weaknesses both of the voting public and the news media. ..."

Thank you Mike Lofgren.

TPM: Former Doolittle staffer & Abramoff lobbyist Kevin Ring 'Not Entitled' To Leniency

Based on roughly 30 seconds of deep thought, I disagree with the feds on this.
(Recommendation: read & decide for yourself)

Help? Dan Logue's ties to American Legislative Exchange Council?

I seem to be having some difficulty getting staffers of Assemblyman Dan Logue to answer a few Qs about his ties, if any, to ALEC. If you read this, and you know of a Logue aide who's typically responsive to his constituents, please tell me who - you can email me at ncvoices.us (don't forget the .us!) at gmail.

As of yesterday, arrest count is 843

This according to 2005 whistleblower and current Climate Science Watch director Rick Piltz, who was among the honorees.

"Stopping the pipeline, which would carry the tar sands carbon bomb from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast, can be viewed as a litmus test of Obama’s character and integrity on climate change."

Applause to Rick, and to the other 842.