The Surge Of Neocon Mythology - 2

It is our practice from time to time to review an older post to show that, in U.S.eh? politics at least, some things do not seem to change.

Take for example the post on this date in 2009 which concerned neoCon politics of the GOP.

 Here is that post from 2009:

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The mantra of the neoCon republicans has been that America was and is made safer by their wars, torture, and economic prowess.

Their efforts led, among other things, to Senator Ted Kennedy being put on the terrorism no fly list, and for sure he could not get a pilots license after that or get on board an airliner.

However terrorists can keep their pilot's license:

At least six men suspected or convicted of crimes that threaten national security retained their federal aviation licenses, despite antiterrorism laws written after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that required license revocation. Among them was a Libyan sentenced to 27 years in prison by a Scottish court for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie.

(NY Times). What is all this letting foreigners take over our ports, military factories, but call elderly Senators terrorists?

Rush Limbaugh is surging ahead, saying Governor Sanford was driven to adultery by democrats. What is next, the Iraq war was not for oil?

There is a surge in fantasy reasons for wars and torture, fantasy reasons to put Ted Kennedy on the no-fly-list, fantasy reasons for not revoking terrorists pilot licenses, and so on.

Is somebody a sicko in the heezy land?

Joe The Plumber says Senator Dodd should be hanged.

The right wing is the place for inciting hatred these daze.

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Make Dance, Not War

How Good Can President Obama Be? - 2

President Barack Obama

On this date in 2009 Dredd Blog and its readers wondered about the chances the newly elected President Obama would have.

Since then racists everywhere, as well as the Republican Party have declared publicly that their number one goal is to make a failure of President Obama.

The following text is the 2009 post wherein we had a discussion concerning President Obama's chances to do what he wanted to do, what he campaigned on doing, and the dynamics involved:

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The military has an advertising slogan "be all you can be in the" military, without really saying how much "all" is.

Bob Dylan made this statement about Obama's potential:

"He'll be the best president he can be. Most of those guys come into office with the best of intentions and leave as beaten men."

(Telegraph). It is fiction to expect more than can be done, and it sets one up for disappointment to give in to the delusion of expecting too much.

For example, in a declining republic no person can do as much as they can in a robust booming republic; and the opposition to the goals a president has can be overwhelming.

Capacity and potential are major players in the game, so we will miscalculate if we do not take them into consideration.

This delusion of excessive expectations has led many progressives to join the neoCons in denouncing this president before he even had a chance to do the first 100 days.

With minds like that, the capacity and potential is diminished further, thus the nation is held back even further by unfair and fake progressives who talk as if they are really wannabe neoCons.

I think a telling illustration is to ask:

"Would you rather enter the presidency following the Bill Clinton years, with a big budget surplus and no unpopular wars, or enter it after Bush II with a financial disaster, two unpopular wars on your hands, and a global dislike of Americans like no time in the past?"

The potential in the two cases is vastly different, and will have a bearing on the capacity and potential a president has to work with ... and what ultimately can be accomplished.

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A Methanol Economy Way Out of Here - 5

Attention Thelma & Louise

The inability to grasp simple arithmetic is caused by various things.

Take peak oil arithmetic: o = s - u, where s is the total finite supply of oil available, u is the current amount already used by civilization, and o is the total remaining oil still available for use.

It ought to be clear to a fifth grader that as u increases, o diminishes to eventually equate to "half used up".

The term "half used up" is just another way of saying the "peak oil" point, because from then on the amount of oil available, o, is always going to be less than half of what was originally available, and is always going down even further, so long as oil is still being used.

Regular readers know that Dredd Blog has had a series going that describes a way we can deal with what the scientist in the video at the end of this post calls "a liquid fuel problem."

Be sure to watch the video for an insight into what will happen if we do not heed the "bridge is out ahead" signs.

You may want to review the other posts in this series beginning with  A Methanol Economy Way Out of Here.

UPDATE: In addition to the methanol potential, a new government study says that 80% of electrical energy could be green by 2050.

The previous post in this series is here.

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