"The two parties have combined against us to nullify our power by a 'gentleman's agreement' of non-recognition, no matter how we vote ... May God write us down as asses if ever again we are found putting our trust in either the Republican or the Democratic Parties."~~W.E.B. DuBois (1922)

In a post on his blog yesterday, Al Gore called for climate protests in America in response to the betrayal by our Congress in doing its moral duty to address the climate crisis. This is no small news, (though it will be treated as such in our media) this is a clarion call to begin a social movement to reclaim our soul as a nation and our moral conscience as a species make no mistake about that.

Last night I was part of a conference call/town hall meeting event with Repower America which included remarks by it's Chariman, former Vice President Al Gore.

Reading this article about an appearance he made in Mexico this past week to discuss climate change you get the distinct impression the media there is just so disappointed they didn't get to be a part of his entire discussion because they just care so much about climate change. Hogwash.

In April of this year, 29 men were killed in an explosion in a Massey mine in West Virginia. Massey, it turns out, has had a disgraceful record of continuous, consistent safety violations and, in addition, has had a record of financing and electing a Supreme Court judge in West Virginia to protect that corporation against attempted enforcement of a $50 million fine because of earlier safety violations. But the corporate veil is not easy to penetrate and it will be a long time before anybody knows.

 Last month as well, 11 roughnecks on an oilrig in the Gulf of Mexico were killed in that methane explosion. Millions of gallons of oil have since come gushing into the sea threatening the livelihood of thousands of Louisianans, tourism, the survival of shell fish, wetlands species, wildlife, ducks and birds. Did British Petroleum, or Haliburton, or Transocean, the three giant corporations involved, make a callous, or negligent decision when they drilled that well and failed to install the backup systems that would have prevented the blowout? In all probability they did.  

It generally happens in world history that change comes to rural areas later than it comes to cities and that, no matter where you are on the planet, rural areas are more conservative politically, which is saying the same thing, really, since conservative means to want to hold on to what was good in the past, or not to change too much. Whether you are talking about rural Pakistan, or rural Russia, or rural Wyoming, the people who live--and are separated from each other by fields and forests --are likely to hold tight to traditional values and be suspicious of change.

 That could be good, of course, but the bad side is that rural areas are also more likely to resist the mingling of races that comes with commerce and cities, or the rise of women's rights, or mixture of social classes, or experimentation with education and health care, or, in fact any other form of government intervention to assist those who are in trouble.  

The office of U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa expressed doubts over the weekend about a San Diego's man's report of a harrowing, out-of-control acceleration experience in his second-generation Toyota Prius, stating that tests attempting to recreate the ride proved that the vehicle stopped and slowed as designed.

The recent political trials in Iran and Burma have raised several questions on the motives of these trials. There could be several levels of analysis, and similarities and differences could be drawn between the trials of political prisoners in Iran and the political prisoners in Burma.

This piece is for the skeptics. Not for skeptical Republicans (I imagine you have your minds made up already), but for all the undecideds and independents, for all the middle-of-the-roadsters, for the person who is right now saying "I would be happy with either candidate as President" or, I suppose, for the one who is saying "I can't stand either of these guys". I've been listening to you, reading your editorials. I know what you're saying. Dare I say, I know what you're not saying too. Obama skeptics: This piece is for you.

by Cody Lyon
Here it is, the second week of September and despite a Congressional Budget Office report saying the United States deficit is projected to rise to $407 billion, along with a continued rash of failing financial institutions, the nightmare of misled war in Iraq, a mere treading of water in the land of the Taliban, Afghanistan, despite the fact that 50 million un-insured, a disappearing middle class, the headlines are filled with talk of pitbulls, swine and lipstick, as if some sort of Animal Farm like fever had stolen the meat from the potato's of reality that politics is meant to address.

Al Gore gave us a momentous challenge this past Thursday by calling upon us to have the same spirit that birthed this nation to address the climate crisis and make no mistake about it, this is just as much an issue of Democracy as it is an economic, environmental, or national security issue.

by Mikhail Lyubansky

This is heresy I know, since most of the White majority likes to pretend that it's colorblind, but race needs to be part of the calculus in the November election for all voters. Of course, it was never not going to be part of the equation. And race is certainly part of the explicit discourse for Black voters, as it always is. My point is that it's high time white folks join in the discussion and acknowledge that it matters. Because it does.

Here's what's at stake in November: For the first time in history, there is a real possibility that "The Man" won't be White. The implications will take years to sort out, but here are some very early thoughts about why the candidate's race is important enough to influence our vote. Because the implications of a Black President are somewhat different for different identity groups, I break it down accordingly. But, and make no mistake about this, all other things being equal, having a Black President would benefit all Americans -- well almost all.

Quote from the award winning best selling book by Nobel Laureate Al Gore, The Assault On Reason:

Islamic fundamentalism undermines the politics and the educational system in Sudan so much so that the people of this country need to start envisioning a New Sudan

Mr. Hannity: "You cannot negotiate with evil...sweet-talk...compromise...give ground to it. You can only defeat it, or it will defeat you." (p. 6)

My response: As a Catholic, I agree wholeheartedly with this principle. In the great cosmic struggle between good and evil in which we are all participants, vigilance and unwavering determination are crucial for those fighting evil. Wishy-washiness in confronting evil allows the devil to take a person over. But Mr. Hannity's book fails to take into account the difference between the unchanging moral law and the application of that law to the political sphere.