skippy the bush kangaroo

via government stimulus funds.

the federal government is giving a joint venture involving oil giant bp millions of dollars in stimulus money to build a power plant on farmland near the tiny kern county town of tupman, even as the company faces heavy government pressure and a criminal probe into the gulf of mexico oil spill.

bp is benefiting from a $308 million federal grant over several years for the cutting-edge power plant on cotton and alfalfa fields seven miles from the western edge of bakersfield. more than half of the money, $175 million, is coming from stimulus funds. the rest is coming from another federal program.

the stimulus portion alone ranks as the second biggest award in california to a corporation and among the largest in the country benefiting private interests, according to data reported to the government by stimulus recipients.

the u.s. department of energy announced the grant last year to hydrogen energy california, a joint partnership of bp and the multinational mining firm rio tinto**, and has paid out $13.6 million so far. the money continues to flow even as the obama administration bills bp for the massive costs of the oil spill. - california watch

**which has been banned by norway for environmental concerns.

Labels: bp, california, economy, energy, environment, obama

are morons.

Labels: america, education, obama, polls, religion

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Labels: msnbc, obama, olbermann, republicans

happy birthday (and we know that you were born in hawai'i and don't need to see your birth certificate) to you!

Labels: birthday, obama, youtube

and they pay her the big bucks.

african-american lawmakers are irate that the 0bama administration has promised sen. blanche lincoln (d-ark.) $1.5 billion in farm aid while claiming it can’t pay a landmark legal settlement with black farmers. - the hill

if they can that blue b**** (female version of blue dog), they can pay back farmers that were found to have been pooched for generations.

Labels: blues, farmers, obama

for those stories you won't be hearing on the sunday talking head shows....but are far more important than any of the bloviating they highlight.

there's nothing like a dunking in dirty water. - the river jordan, where, the bible says, john baptised jesus christ and declared him the messiah, is now little more than an unholy brew of raw sewage, chemical run-off and brackish agricultural leftovers - sydney morning herald

coastline is still in danger. - no one denies america faces an energy crisis. but it is well-documented that opening america’s coast to renewed exploration and drilling would do nothing to change pump prices - ventura county star

flushed away. - the planet may still be paying for the cold you had last winter. the planet is also paying for your dad's hypertension, your aunt's high cholesterol and your colleague's throat infection, all of which were treated with drugs whose chemical residue then leaked into sewers or was leached into landfills and water tables - time magazine

vermont Senate seeks plastic additive ban. - senate lawmakers took a bold step friday toward banning the use of a potentially dangerous chemical in many plastic containers, including baby formula packages, sippy cups and water bottles. - barre montpelier times argus

ithaca college scholar wages impassioned fight against carcinogens. - the perc-contaminated water sandra steingraber grew up drinking in her hometown of peoria, illinois may not have caused her cancer, but it certainly caused somebody's - ithica journal

fungus kills off 90% of n.j. bats. - white-nose syndrome has killed off about 90 percent of the state's bat population, according to scientists who recently conducted a count of hibernating bats. - gergen county record

n.j. mosquito control officials expect surge in population after record precipitation. - as a result of all the rain in march, experts are predicting an unusually large mosquito population this spring. the problem could be exacerbated by the fact that 90 percent of the bats in new jersey have been wiped out - newark star ledger

most oregon greenhouse gas not what you might think. - an inventory conducted by metro concludes that driving our cars and heating our homes aren't the region's biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. it's how we make, move and toss away all the stuff we consume. - portland oregonian

millions to be hit by drought. - the lives of tens of millions of vietnamese people living in river basins will be affected by the increasing scarcity of fresh water resources resulting from climate change and salt water intrusion into rivers and watersheds caused by rising sea water. - vietnam news

barack obama aims to drive gas guzzlers off the road with greener laws. - in a coup that achieves something president clinton promised but never delivered, president obama has forced the big three us carmakers, and their unions, to accept tough mileage rules for cars and suvs - london times

trinity rescue mission farm to supply organic produce to jacksonville’s hungry. -when residents of trinity rescue mission sit down for their daily meals, they're usually eating the kind of food that's easy to donate: canned vegetables and boxes of processed food that don't spoil. - jacksonville times union

former pfizer scientist wins whistle-blower lawsuit. - a federal jury has awarded $1.37 million in damages to a former pfizer scientist who claimed she was sickened by a genetically engineered virus at a company laboratory and then fired for raising safety concerns. - nytimes

oil spill pollutes yangtze. - a tributaty of china's yellow river has been polluted by an oil spill, state-run media reported on saturday, in the latest environmental accident to threaten the nation's drinking water. - afp

preserved: britain's 'barrier reef.' - a government scheme to protect the ecology of the chagos islands delights the green movement, but exiled islanders will be kept away so that the us can retain use of its airbase on diego garcia. - london independent

maryland lawmakers target student environmental lawyers. - when cash-strapped activists and riverkeepers take on polluters in court, they often turn to the university of maryland law school for legal representation. student lawyers receive on-the-job training, while the activists get low-cost lawyers. - annapolis capitol

study identifies threats to appalachian trail. - a new study lists air pollution, funding shortfalls and encroaching development as some of the modern-day threats facing the appalachian trail. - knoxville news sentinel

bpa widespread in ocean water and sand. - japanese scientists testing ocean water and sea sand have found widespread contamination with high levels bisphenol a, a chemical used to make plastic that's able to mimic the female hormone estrogen in living things. - toronto globe and mail

pests, poison ivy, kudzu will thrive in tennessee as earth heats up. - sure, some species benefit from a warming planet, but they can be the annoying ones that sting, bite, or make you itch - nashville tenneseean

Labels: animals, california, cancer, cars, china, climate change, ecology, energy, environment, epa, hunger, obama, offshore drilling, organic, pollution, rivers, science, toxins, water

is the u.s. backing this horrific insanity?

in a stunning instance of what can only be called collective cognitive dissonance, a small working group of the international whaling commission has just proposed we reinstate commercial whaling in order to save the whales.

make no mistake: this proposal has nothing to do with saving whales, but is instead all about protecting the whaling industries of just a few obstinate countries who insist on destroying these amazing creatures. this proposal is the most serious threat to the moratorium on commercial whaling that we’ve seen since greenpeace fought for and won the moratorium in the 80s. - greenpeace

tell president obama to just say "no!"

Labels: obama, whales

barack doesn't bow down to the owners of the u.s.. he met with the dalai lama dispite china's objections and threats.

barack obama expressed "strong support" for the tibetan way of life when he saw the dalai lama at the white house today, a meeting that risks further damaging us-china relations. - the guardian

Labels: dalai lama, obama, tibet

for nuke plants this time.

president barack obama will announce next week loan guarantees for two new nuclear reactors, setting the stage for the first nuclear power plant to be built in the us in three decades.

The financial commitment will be made for the construction and operation of the two new reactors at a southern company plant in burke, georgia.

...there were no details on the value of the loan guarantees, but the official noted the white house’s 2011 budget had tripled loan guarantees for nuclear power plants to more than $54bn. - financial times

hope they don't build these things on an active fault like diablo canyon just up the coast. oh, and by the way, have they figured out what to do with all the nuke waste product yet? that would be a big freakin' no. i say if d.c. wants to build nukes, d.c. should be the destination for nuke waste disposal. it would be fun to see boehner glow in the dark a little bit more than he usually does.

Labels: nuclear power, obama

obama...you're kidding, right?

...even though police are tapping into the locations of mobile phones thousands of times a year, the legal ground rules remain unclear, and federal privacy laws written a generation ago are ambiguous at best. on friday, the first federal appeals court to consider the topic will hear oral arguments (pdf) in a case that could establish new standards for locating wireless devices.

....the obama administration has argued that warrantless tracking is permitted because americans enjoy no "reasonable expectation of privacy" in their--or at least their cell phones'--whereabouts - cnet

Labels: cell phones, fbi, lawsuits, obama

join markos, david corn, craig newmark, nate silver, katrina vanden heuvel and more.....sign the petition and demand "question time."...here.

we live in a world that increasingly demands more dialogue than monologue. president obama’s january 29th question-and-answer session with republican leaders gave the public a remarkable window into the state of our union and governing process. it was riveting and educational. the exchanges were
substantive, civil and candid. and in a rare break from our modern politics, sharp differences between elected leaders were on full public display without rancor or ridicule.

...america could use more of this — an unfettered and public airing of political differences by our elected representatives. so we call on president barack obama and house minority leader john boehner to hold these sessions regularly — and allow them to be broadcast and webcast live and without commercial interruption, sponsorship or intermediaries. - demandquestiontime.com

Labels: congress, obama

because they are scared of obama meeting and talking with the "terrorist" dalai lama.

“if the us leader chooses this time to meet the dalai lama, that would damage trust and co-operation between our two countries, and how would that help the united states surmount the current economic crisis?” said mr zhu - financial times

Labels: china, dalai lama, obama

yeah...i'm late because i was blinded by that big, bad bold "wolf" moon last night. it was so huge, i thought it might have been on steroids.

aging pipes force sewage into san francisco bay. - during the storms that howled through the bay area a couple of weeks back, a total of 630,000 gallons of raw sewage spewed into the bay at 47 spots. and that was small fry, according to environmental watchdog group san francisco baykeeper. - sfgate

what's old is new again: depression-era habits help the environment. - to save the environment, we’re told to grow our own organic vegetables, shop locally, use clotheslines instead of dryers, take public transit, recycle and don’t waste. been there, done that, say survivors of the great depression of the 1930s. - burlington free press

ed miliband declares war on climate change sceptics. - the climate secretary last night warned of the danger of a public backlash against the science of global warming in the face of continuing claims that experts have manipulated data. - london observer

fill 'er up in your own driveway. - if honda has its way, your home will soon be transformed into a service station. honda has developed a solar-powered hydrogen fuelling station in the us that can be installed in your home. - sydney morning herald

drought hits quarter of a million people in china's sugar bowl. - the southern chinese sugar-producing region of guangxi is suffering from a prolonged drought which has left almost a quarter of a million people without enough drinking water, state media said on saturday - reuters

put rainwater to work. - in southern california, storms are short and water shortages are long. and yet there have been few initiatives at either the local or state level to deal with storm water. now it's time for a more comprehensive approach - torrence daily breeze

climate change to hit public health hard. - climate change will have an adverse effect on public health -- particularly that of children -- including malnutrition, waterborne diseases, cholera, skin and eye diseases, and cardiovascular diseases, environmental health experts warned at a forum on saturday. - dhaka daily star

electric cars, the sequel: with 1,000 leafs on their way to san diego county, are evs here to stay? - the potential electric car future will get a reboot in december, when a thousand new cars are scheduled to arrive in the region, supported by the beginnings of a new recharging infrastructure - san diego north county times

hong kong pollution reaches dangerous levels. - hong kong was shrouded in smog friday as pollution hit potentially hazardous levels. - taipai china post

utahns urged to take 'clean air challenge.' - with increased efforts from utahns, gov. gary herbert and other government leaders believe the state's air-quality problems could be a thing of the past. - salt lake deseret morning news

another look at atrazine. - one of the most widely used herbicides in the u.s., atrazine, is being reevaluated by the epa. some scientists say the weed killer negatively impacts the environment and human health. but atrazine’s parent company syngenta stands behind its product - living on earth

uss stops tons of benzene from entering lake. - u.s. steel gary works treated and destroyed 10,000 pounds of benzene over three months in the fall as the company worked on preventing contaminated groundwater from leaking into lake michigan. - merrillville post tribune

the eco-warrior. - president obama has appointed the most progressive epa chief in history — and she's moving swiftly to clean up the mess left by bush. - rolling stone

Labels: cars, climate change, climategate, drought, ecology, energy, environment, epa, global warming, india, obama, ocean, public health, san francisco, science, toxins, vermont, water, weather

people should listen. bernie sanders cuts through c**p and pens an opinion.

"...in my view, the democrats--including the president--have absurdly continued to stumble along the path of "bipartisanship" at exactly the same time the republicans have waged the most vigorous partisan and obstructionist strategy in recent history.

instead of making it clear that the first two years of the obama administration would be about digging the country out of the incredible mess that bush's eight years left us in, (deep recession, financial collapse, record-breaking deficits, disintegrating healthcare system, two wars, lack of respect from the international community, neglect of the environment), obama, incredibly, has enabled tens of millions of americans to now believe that bush's failures are his as well. - the nation

if only the democrats had a backbone like this socialist democrat from the great state of vermont.

go, bernie go!

Labels: democrats, obama, senate, vermont

op-ed of the day at the financial times.

mr cheney's splenetic outburst after the failed detonation over detroit still awaits the public endorsement of mr bin laden; communications are difficult from the hide on the afghanistan/pakistan border to which he escaped from the bush administration. but we can be sure the al-qaeda leader shares the view that mr abdulmutallab should have received harsher treatment.

few things have done more to draw recruits to the twisted ideology of violent jihad than images of detainees being tormented by their us captors. the idea that mr obama is applying proper standards of justice to terrorists is as abhorrent to al-qaeda as it seems to be to mr cheney. guantánamo, abu ghraib and the rest count among mr bin laden's strategic successes. he could scarcely have hoped for a better recruiting sergeant.

mr cheney assumes a finite number of terrorists; the more you kill or capture is what matters. in the real world, the fight is about stanching the flow of recruits from the vast pools of disaffected young people in the Islamic world. anyone who has spent any time in the middle east knows that the most potent charge levied against the us is that of double standards.

mr obama's crime is to have understood this - to have accepted the advice of intelligence chiefs, military commanders and, dare one say it, diplomats, that defeating al-qaeda ultimately is about hearts, minds and politics as much as military force. waterboarding simply does not do it. - financial times

(tip o' the kangaroo tail to thom hartmann)

Labels: cheney, newspapers, obama, terrorists, war on terror

what is the difference between today's depression and the depression in the 1930s?

in the thirties, the people robbed the banks.

Labels: bailout, banking, obama

shut the f**k up.

former vice president dick cheney accused president barack obama on tuesday of “trying to pretend we are not at war” with terrorists, pointing to the white house response to the attempted sky bombing as reflecting a pattern that includes banishing the term “war on terror” and attempting to close the guantanamo bay detention center. - politico

Labels: cheney, guantanamo bay, obama, terrorists, war on terror

declare as "left of the left" anyone who agrees with 77% of the american people. it is what centrist pragmatists do.

Labels: bipartisanship, healthcare, obama

no matter how you feel about the "health care reform" bill it can't be a good sign that a bunch of obama's supporters in 2008 now feel the need to fact check him

Labels: bipartisanship, healthcare, obama

why does google whitewash some results and decide to leave inaccurate, racist results up?

Labels: aWol, google, obama, racism