Floored Fiorina and Boxed Boxer

As we get closer and closer to the election between current Senator Barbara Boxer and hopeful Carly Fiorina, things should be heating up. That's not exactly what's happening. Many, when given the choice between the two candidates are choosing none of the above. Even the San Francisco Chronicle has taken a turn in not supporting either opponent. Here is what Politico described:

In what it calls an "extremely rare" move, the San Francisco Chronicle is refusing to endorse either Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer or her Republican challenger, Carly Fiorina.    

“It is extremely rare that this editorial page would offer no recommendation on any race, particularly one of this importance,” read an editorial in Sunday’s paper. “This is one necessary exception.”

“It is a dismal choice between an ineffective advocate for causes we generally support and a potentially strong advocate for positions we oppose,” the paper concluded. “Neither merits our endorsement for the U.S. Senate.”

In this state of disarray, a healthy dose of rivalry between supporters  would do well to somewhat unify voters. But we cannot even hope for opponency this time around, that is if Boxer and Fiorina don't step it up a notch. This election may turn out to be a close call but for all the wrong reasons.

Keeping Bush Around

With the recent repeal of repealing DADT, it is no surprise that the Republicans in Senate feel in control. They have now repealed a finance campaign reform bill, proving their tight hand over the Senate right now. The republican senators are striving for the days of Bush and enforcing republicanism on the Senate and country with full force. Politico gives a closer look:

Senate Democrats failed to break a filibuster of a campaign finance reform bill Thursday, marking the second time their DISCLOSE Act has fallen short of the votes necessary to be debated on the floor.

The chief Senate sponsor of the bill, Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York, had tried to make a last-ditch appeal to his Republican colleagues Wednesday by saying Democrats would be open to amendments — including a push back of the legislation's effective date to the next campaign cycle. But GOP senators were unconvinced by the appeal on a bill they believe should have been more openly negotiated and merited a committee debate.

The legislation required 60 votes to move forward and failed, 59-39, without a single Republican breaking ranks.

 Will the Republicans continue this stroke of power? How many more bills, policies, acts will they overcome and repeal? Hopefully things settle down and even out in the Senate.

Possibly Not As Dumb As We Want to Be

America's economy has been in the low tide for quite some time now, but it appears that things might be finally turning around. For the first time for what seems to be in years, Obama has finally signed a bill that will be beneficial to the American people. Here is USA Today's explanation of the bill:

The small business jobs bill passed today will help provide loans and cut taxes for millions of small business owners without adding a dime to our nation's deficit. After months of partisan obstruction and needless delay, I'm grateful that Democrats and a few Republicans came together to support this common-sense plan to put Americans back to work. I look forward to signing the bill on Monday.

Not adding to the deficit?  That is definitely something we have not heard in a long time. For Obama's sake, let's hope that this little streak of pleasing everyone will continue.

Senate Doesn't Ask, Lady Gaga Tells

Apparently, civilians are not the only ones riling over the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. If McCain won't listen to the rest of us about repealing the DADT, maybe Lady Gaga can convince him. It seems that the 'normal' American can't fend for himself anymore, at least we'll have Gaga.

Paid By The Ticket

How often in folklore has it been said that policemen have been living by quotas and not by the Constitution? Well, maybe this isn't as radical as all that but it turns out that those tickets found on the windshields of unsuspecting victims have occasionally been a waste of paper to fill recently uncovered quotas. Here is what The New York Times had to say:

For nearly every New Yorker who has received a summons in the city — caught at a checkpoint monitoring seat-belt use, or approached by a small army of police officers descending on illegally parked cars — quotas are a maddening fact of life.
No matter how often the Police Department denies the existence of quotas, many New Yorkers will swear that officers are sometimes forced to write a certain number of tickets in a certain amount of time.
Now, in a secret recording made in a police station in Brooklyn, there is persuasive evidence of the existence of quotas.

The maddening proof exists. Possibly not only in New York and not only with ticket write ups. Not to be extremist, but where do the quotas end and the real police work begin?

Oh No, Clean Energy?

In light of the declining state Earth has been going through due to us homosapiens, clean energy, specifically in China, the second largest populated country on the planet, should be considered a blessing in all regards. Leave it to America to literally be as "dumb as we want to be" as Thomas L. Friedman puts in his book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded. Even though China has been favoring and illegally subsidizing the clean energy business, this is a God-send for the rest of us and the environment. But apparently not to America. Seemingly due to blatant ignorance and purposeful disregard for any current environmental statistics, the Obama administration is considering going after China for its recent 'wrong doing'. Here is what The New York Times had to say:

HONG KONG- A broad trade case filed on Thursday by an American labor union, accusing China of unfairly subsidizing its clean energy industry, pressed a hot-button jobs issue in the United States during a Congressional election season.

But even if the Obama administration agrees to pursue the case, it could prove hard to resolve, as both countries consider their industries crucial to energy security and future economic growth.

Let's keep fingers crossed that China will get away with this foul deed. Would anyone rather they subsidize 'fuels from hell'? We are soon going to run out of nonrenewable resources and China is willing to face these truths to do what is right for our decaying environment. To those losing their jobs in unsustainable industries, this new industry will soon explode with unlimited job opportunities. Understandably this is easier said than done, but so is saving Mother Earth.

The Lobbying of...Drugs? No, Textbooks!

In Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Thomas Friedman concludes that the world is leveling off due to the availability and inflammation of the online universe. Today, you must 'go techno' in order to survive and compete on every level. Not everyone appears to agree. In a recent proposal in Moscow, the massive quantities of textbooks owned by students were to be replaced with e-readers. Specially designed e-readers that are not harmful to the eye, environmentally friendly and much lighter than seven thick textbooks. Why would this amazing offer be turned down last minute? Due only to one 'publicly caring' reason: lobbying. In Russia, the textbook printing industry is a multi-million, if not multi-billion dollar business. It is so large that it is worth more than the drug underworld, literally. So, the only logical response would be to rightfully inform the public that after much testing, it is easily derived that this new technology is dangerous to the mental health of students:

It is known that the supply of textbooks is a multi-billion dollar business, unrivaled in volume, even with the business of drugs. And where there is multi-billion-dollar business - there is serious lobbying.

Publishing companies sounded the alarm. And, of course, in their anxiety they do not explain the real concern being the health of school children. Simon Kalinovich, a person from one of those companies, begins to bear raving news about the fact that the reader is obviously dangerous to the health of students. (Translated from Russian blogger, Exler)

Sadly, this is another prime example of the laundering of environmental resources, a brilliant idea and youth. Even the competition of a country's children in the ever demanding and increasing virtual world is not enough disband a corrupt business. Of course this was not to be unexpected, but it is painful to see the externalities every so often . The question now is how much are they willing to risk for this industry?

A Greener Facebook? No

According to Thomas Friedman, writer for The New York Times and author of Hot, Flat, and Crowded, the world's playing field is leveling out faster and faster due to the ease of accessibility of the virtual world. In today's culture, a large contributor to this phenomenon is none other than the social networking site Facebook. Considering that Facebook is basically 'pop culture' these days, it would be a logical conclusion that the seemingly friendly site would use its ridiculously inflamed popularity to inspire globally productive movements in today's youth, right? Wrong. In fact, it seems to be quite the opposite. In a recent decision made by Facebook to turn to a 'dirty coal' company for its energy generation, over 500,00 Facebook users joined together to urge the largest networking site to pick a more environmentally friendly resource. Here is what The Huffington Post had to say: 

AMSTERDAM — Greenpeace said about 500,000 Facebook users have urged the world's largest online social network to abandon plans to buy electricity from a coal-based energy company for its new data center in the U.S.

Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo sent a letter Wednesday to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg warning that the company risked its reputation and financial health if it ignored the environmental impacts of its actions.

Last week, Greenpeace-sponsored groups urging Facebook to use 100 percent renewable energy passed a collective 500,000 members – a small fraction of Facebook's more than 500 million users worldwide.

Naidoo said Facebook "had a choice" as to where to locate the data center and made an "active choice to lean in the direction of dirty coal."

Although Facebook has done a fair share of 'using its power for good' in the past, it appears that this time Facebook will not take a hit for Mother Earth.

The Race for Cars Causes Traffic...Literally

As the world's fastest growing and second largest economy, China's ever expanding population and middle class must only have the right to live like Americans, right? Shouldn't everyone have the opportunity to mobilize? Thomas L. Friedman faces these issues in his book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded. It appears that China's growth spurt of a demand for cars is catching up with them as thousands of Chinese citizens sat through a ten day, sixty mile traffic jam last month. This is what The Washington Post reported:

On Sunday, the eighth day of the near-standstill, trucks moved just over a kilometer (less than a mile) on the worst section, said Zhang Minghai, a traffic director in Zhangjiakou, a city about 150 kilometers (90 miles) northwest of Beijing. China Central Television reported Tuesday that some vehicles had been stuck for five days.

The car invasion is widely felt; Guo Jifu, head of the Beijing Transportation Research Center, told a symposium Monday that vehicles on Beijing's roads multiplied by 1,900 per day on average in the first half of this year, Xinhua, the official news agency, reported.

If the rate of this global mobilization continues, crowded countries such as China will begin to frequently face these traffic disasters. In fact, since the end of this jam on August 24th, a four day traffic jam consummated around the same area. And if China can mobilize, why not the rest of the world? Statistics show that if the entire human population was to live the American lifestyle, we would need nine Earths to survive. This traffic jam should be a slap in the face for Americans; for too long have we been living luxuriously on the account of others. Now that the rest of the world is catching up, we are eager to yell 'Crisis'. It is long past due that we begin to set an example of greener, more conservative and renewable energy lifestyles.