Sarah Palin on Environment and Energy

Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK), right, is a hunter, fisherwoman, staunch religious conservative, wife, mother of five, and opposes abortion. She is quite a woman and now she is Senator John McCain's pick for vice president. Governor Palin is pretty standard for a Republican on environmental and energy issues. She was the Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Gas and Oil Conservation Commission from 2003 to 2004. Palin passed into law a signature bill, called the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, which dictates the way that the state accepted bids for its North Slope natural gas reserves.

Her husband is a commercial fisherman, a seasonal oil production operator for BP on Alaska's North Slope and a member of the United Steelworkers Union. Yet this has not kept her from confronting Exxon Mobil, BP and ConocoPhillips. She pushed new oil taxes through the Alaska Legislature in 2006, which was strongly opposed by Exxon Mobil, BP PLC and ConocoPhillips. The new tax brought in an estimated $6 billion pushin Alaska's treasury to a surplus estimated at $9 billion. Palin then passed an initiative that gave each Alaskan $1,200 to help them cope with high energy costs.

She's does not think humans are the cause of climate change but she will adjust this to match Senator McCain's leadership in Congress in promoting global warming mitigation. She has given the global warming serious consideration though by setting up an executive branch global waming office. On September 14, 2007, she signed Administrative Order 238, establishing the Climate Change Sub-Cabinet. The sub-cabinet is working to consolidate the state's knowledge about climate change in order to recommend policies and measures to guide the state's mitigation and adaptation efforts. She supports nuclear power, which makes her good on the global warming issue from a technological standpoint. There are no nuclear plants in Alaska, but McCain has the largest nuclear plant in the United States in Arizona (Palo Verde).

Some of Governor Palin's other positions:

Palin is a proponent of a natural gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope.

Palin supports mining in Bristol, which may disrupt salmon, bears, and caribou.

Advocate for more drilling — off Alaska coast and off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts

Sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species

Wants to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling

Palin recently proposed eliminating Alaska's gas tax

Opposes a national windfall profits tax on oil companies.

Said 'NO' to the bridge to nowhere proposed for Alaska.

[Comparison to Obama and McCain]

Alice's bubble wrap

Current housing stock should not go to waste

We are being softened up for a housing bailout. This Guardian article is a particularly shocking example.

"Media speculation is always a matter of claim and counter claim, bluff and spin, truth and distortion. But today's news reports on councils and housing associations being given the power to help first-time buyers with deposits in return for an equity stake by buying up newly built empty properties, and introducing some sort of national sale and leaseback scheme, have more than a ring of truth about them.

In policy terms, what is being suggested is entirely sensible. While arresting the steep decline in house prices should not be an end in itself, the risk that a collapse in house prices will tip the economy into serious recession is too strong to be ignored."

This is a rehash of the "we need to saving housing to save the economy" canard. In fact, the bailout is a redistribution of wealth from tax payers to asset holders. The idea is immoral, since it takes from those who have little and gives to those have much. It will create moral hazard, it won't prevent a recession, and it won't save Labour from electoral annihilation.

Bradford & Bingley was so close to the edge

It was what we all suspected.

Darling: the worst for 60 years?

Stumbling and mumbling takes a look at today's daft comments from the Chancellor.

US GDP: Lowest Inflation Rate in 5 Years

Last week's US GDP revision has many people perplexed. Did the US really grow so fast during the second quarter? There are a lot of sceptical people out there.

Is the FDIC another troubled monoline?

Not quite. It can always rely on the US Treasury for a bailout.

Bank of China Flees from Fannie and Freddie

The beginning of the end.

The rouble has tumbled, the stock market has crashed, and investors have pulled $25bn

The true price of invading weak and defenceless neighbours.

Rate hike looms as Fed tries to ease inflation

Wishful thinking, I suspect.

Georgia Bank fails with $1.1 billion in assets

Bank failures in the US are coming thick and fast.

Shallow Recessions, Shallow Recoveries

They don’t make economic recoveries like they used to.

Say hello to the inflators

There are people today screaming for inflation. They are desperate for higher prices. They are hiding their nefarious desires behind the ludicrous claim that the UK and US economies are deflating.

Here is a good example of an inflator - Jim Cramer. In this clip, he puts forward the claim that the US is deflating right now.

What is Cramer's argument? It seems to go something like this; if we take out commodity prices from the US CPI and replace it with house prices, then the CPI is actually falling. Therefore, the US is deflating and on the edge of a 1930s depression.

Is this true? Certainly house prices are falling. The non-commodity part of the CPI, which loosely corresponds to the PCE index, is not falling. In fact, it is rising. So are input prices, output prices, the GDP deflator and import prices. In fact, the only two prices that are falling right now are house and equity prices. So much for deflation.

The argument is obviously foolish. However, if we stretched the argument back to 2002-06, it must follow that the US was inflating. Back then, house prices were going up at double digit rates. So were equity prices. I don't recall Cramer raving about inflation back then.

He also launches a vicious and largely incoherent attack on the Fed. When it comes to practical policy advice, he substitutes his incoherence with silence. What should the Fed do? Jim has no idea.

The simple fact is that Cramer and his banker mates want inflation. They believe that higher prices will help out their insolvent customers, who took out loans that they can not now pay back. The losers will be savers. Since the bankers sit in the middle and make their money taking a margin, inflation will stabilise their balance sheets and allow them to keep on making money.

So, for people like Cramer, this deflation argument is really useful. However, it is a Trojan horse for inflation. It is a useful intellectual instrument in hands of self=serving self-interested bankers.

Make no mistake, inflation is the real problem. How do we know this? Because the money supply and inflation data tells us so.

The worst in 60 years?

Today, the Chancellor told the Guardian that Britain is facing "arguably the worst" economic downturn in 60 years.

Could Darling be onto something? Or is he getting carried away with his own apocalyptic language? We have had a few nasty turns during that time. If today's slowodown takes the title of the worst in 60 years, it has three competitors to overtake.

The oil shock - 1974-5

This was the downturn that set the mood for a decade. Inflation hit 25 percent, unemployment doubled, and the housing market crashed.

The country hit rock-bottom when Heath put the country on a three day week. The coal miners were looking for more money and he didn't want to pay. He called an election on the bogus premise that he wanted to sort out who ran the country. The electorate decided that it was the Miners. Heath was dumped and and the "miners friend" Harold Wilson took over Downing Street.

The Thatcher recession 1980-82

This will be a tough one to beat. Thatcher wanted to kill off double digit inflation. She tightened things up. She raised interest rates and tried to cut public expenditure.

However, she initially suffered from a credibility problem. Wage setters didn't believe her and kept settling for huge increases. Higher wages made firms uncompetitive and the UK suffered from the largest employment shake-out since the 1930s. The situation wasn't helped by a sudden appreciation of sterling, which made UK exports uncompetitive. The end result was three million unemployed and a sizable contraction of GDP.

The West Midlands, the heart of UK manufacturing, was devastated. As one commentator said, "Thatcher did more damage to the West Midlands than the Luftwaffe."

Trapped in the ERM 1990-92

This downturn was in some respects a re-run of the Thatcher recession. By 1989, inflation was running out of control and somewhat belatedly, the Conservatives realized that something had to be done. Interest rates increased, killing off the 1980s housing bubble.

However, the downturn was compounded by what now seems the insane decision to enter the European exchange rate mechanism, which anchored sterling to the DM. After German unification, the Bundesbank raised interest rates, and the UK had to follow. As the economy nose-dived, unemployment hit 3 million, and the government ran up huge deficits.

Major finally threw in the towel in summer 1992, pulling out of the ERM. The economy began to recover, but the UK electorate haven't forgiven the Tories for the mess.

Focus on fiscal management, forget the housing crash

These are some tough acts to follow.

However, if the UK economy is about to hit the worst slowdown in 60 years, then New Labour's current economic strategy is horribly misaligned. The government accounts are already in bad shape and they will get worse if the economy slides into a major recession. Unemployment is going to increase, leading to higher benefit expenditures, and larger fiscal deficits. So if the government accounts are about to deteriorate, then why is Darling proposing an expensive taxpayer bailout of the housing market?

Darling needs to prioritize; the housing market is beyond saving, but he can do something now to keep some order in the goverment accounts as things start to deteriorate.

Alice's bubble wrap

Britain 'facing 18-month recession'

That is what the Mail thinks.

Credit crunch delays Liverpool FC stadium

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I have no opinion.

London Luxury-Home Prices Post First Drop Since 2003

I thought that the high-end London market was crash proof. Russian oligarchs and Arab princes would always want to live in Mayfair.

B&B slumps to a loss as arrears surge

"Bradford & Bingley on Friday reported a pre-tax loss of £26.7m in first-half profits, compared with a profit £180.4m a year earlier, following a sharp jump in arrears and losses on its structured credit portfolio."

Credit crunch: Crédit Agricole profits fall 94%

It is so much easier to report losses when everyone else is doing likewise.

Irish mortgage growth at lowest since 1987

Oh Mamatchka! Things are getting bad in Ireland. What happened to the celtic tiger. Did somebody shoot it?

Look Out FDIC

Does the US deposit insurance scheme have enough money to pay for all the upcoming bank failures. It is highly doubtful.

McCain picks female running mate

I don't want to make any specific comment on the US elections. It is up to Americans who they want as President. However, I was very excited by McCain's choice of vice-presidential candidate - Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska.

Just more old people dying

Thousands of people are dying needlessly in UK hospitals, and the silence is deafening. Last year, 22 people died every day from a simple bacteria called C. difficile. Some hospitals manageed to record over 100 deaths from this bug in just 12 short months. In the UK as a whole, the C. difficile death rate is exploding.

Take a look at the following table. It looks at the death rates of six hospitals. The first three had the highest death rates during 2003-07, the second three hospitals had the lowest death rates.

Do you notice anything odd? The second group of hospitals recorded no deaths whatever from this bug. That is right; no C. difficle corpses in the hospital morgue.

The top three hospitals had death rates in three digits. These hospitals were wasting people at the rate of one a week. Ironically, the worst hospital - the Royal United in Bath - had a comparatively good year in 2007. Only 59 people died, the previous year it wasted 94.

There is nothing inevitable about this calamity. Some hospitals can consistently avoid their patients dying, while other hospitals have people dropping dead like flys.

Let us be honest. We all know why there isn't more outrage. It is the victims; they are mostly pensioners. Somehow the idea of an elderly person crapping their life away in some anonymous hospital ward doesn't engender much sympathy.

This issue really upsets me. It says that there is something really rotten in the heart of this country. We all know that with more effort, and better hygiene management, these deaths could be avoided. Yet, we really don't care enough to insist that our hospitals are kept clean. Let us all hope we don't get old.

Did anyone mention MRSA?

Council housing is back

The Times again outlined New Labour’s mortgage rescue plan to prop up the housing market. This is how the Times described it:

"Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, and Caroline Flint, the Housing Minister, are planning to announce an emergency “mortgage rescue” package next week. Under the plan councils will be encouraged to offer low-income families at risk of repossession the chance to sell a stake of their houses in return for financial help. First-time buyers will also be given more council-backed assistance with deposits and town halls will be given extra money to buy up empty, unsold new property. A more radical proposal under which councils would have been freed to compete as mortgage lenders with access to a pot of £2 billion in government borrowing has been vetoed by Mr Darling. Instead he is likely to extend a Bank of England guarantee designed to boost confidence among existing lenders."

So what do we have here? Local authorities will provide mortgage deposits, buy unsold properties, and take over the debts of people on the edge of repossession. Darling rejected the idea of turning our councils into mortgage providers, but will be extending government guarantees through our central bank.

The plan provoked an outraged response from readers. I picked up a few of the comments, which give a flavour of how this scam will go down with the public.

“This is throwing good money after bad. Please can the government explain the rationale for trying to keep house prices inflated above an historical equilibrium? The government is basically giving our taxes away to the reckless and greedy. “ A Nelson, Newcastle, UK

“Great, so my tax money, money I've worked hard for, is to be used to prop up a grossly unfair and unsustainable system. This is robbery of the young to keep the house price party going for the soon-to-retire. Criminal, simply criminal. “ Bob Jones, London, London

“The taxpayer is being asked to foot the bill for the folly of foolish buyers who have paid far too much for their houses. More fool them - why should I, as a prudent non-debtor, prop up their excesses and the crazy prices they have paid? Peter Kiddle , St. Neots, UK

“Will the council help me out if I fall behind on payments for my new plasma TV and Lexus? No, why should housing be any different? Let’s also factor in the fact that half of them can't even afford weekly bin collections, now they're selling mortgages. Sometime I wonder why I work and save!” Paul, Camberley,

“Why should the taxpayer be asked to bolster a grossly over inflated property market? Local authorities will be taken for a ride when buying unsold property from developers at inflated prices.” Allan, Inverness.

Of course, I sympathize with these people. I share their pain and anger. However, we are missing the big picture here. This mortgage rescue plan is not about helping the housing market; it is about reversing a key pillar of the Thatcher legacy – council house sales. Labour – new and old – always hated those sales, and the popularity it gave the Conservatives. Now, the housing crash has offered the opportunity of some payback, or should I say buy-back.

Socialized housing is about to make a come back.

When bloggers attack: Weiss's war

In a fit of either bad judgment or masochism, I shared my previous posting on Joe Biden with Phil Weiss, the anti-Israel blogger whom Meretz USA and Ameinu dialogued with last year. Not surprisingly, he lashed out at the posting and lambasted Biden for basically being pro-Israel.

My point was that Biden's views on Israel are more complex than I had realized, that he's both sympathetic to Israel (even declaring himself a "Zionist") and critical on the settlements issue. We at Meretz USA are probably both more knowledgeable and a little more critical than Biden is regarding Israel, but his mixture of concerned criticism and warm existential support is close to where we are at as progressive Zionists.

All that Phil and most of his commenting readers would focus on is Biden's support for Israel – which to them is a bad thing. Phil and some of his readers point out that most of the JTA link is about Biden's warmth toward Israel. They glide over those sections that highlight Biden's differences with some Israeli policies:

Biden has been especially sharp in criticizing the United States and Israel in their failure to support Mahmoud Abbas in 2003, when he was the Palestinian
Authority prime minister attempting to establish a power base to challenge then-President Yasser Arafat. ...

"I've had my shouting matches over 25 years, privately, in my office and in the offices of prime ministers," Biden said in a March 2007 interview with the Forward. "I've had disagreements. Israel's a democracy and they make mistakes.
..."

Biden is correct that the conflict is about wrong doing and wrong-headedness on both sides. He is also right that Israel/Palestine and Iraq are totally distinct issues, that if peace suddenly broke out between Israel and all the Arabs that this would have no impact on Iraq. But we at Meretz USA believe that Israel needs to strive harder, more realistically and more justly toward the Palestinians in a sincere quest for peace.

I don't know if Phil believes in peace in the Middle East. He clearly does not believe in peace with me or with these terrible people he calls "progressive Zionists."

Since, to my understanding, he's busy writing a book that's likely to attack us as thoroughly as he can, it's apparently in his interest to regard us as enemies. This is sad and a disservice to truth.

Alice's bubble wrap

State of the nation

"The shortlist for the Mercury Prize is a reliable indicator of the national mood. This year Britain sounds like a lonely place fixated with bygone glories".

MPC dove Blanchflower to vote for rate cut

Blanchflower is an enemy of the people.

Standard and Poor’s warns of UK’s greater recession risk

These jokers are normally the last to know; so the recession must have started.

Deepening recession may throw Britain into full-year GDP fall

Yes, it will be deep and dirty.

Indecision on Stamp Duty impacting property market: NAEA

Darling's incompetent attempt to revive the housing market has probably helped prices fall faster. Perhaps, I have judged Darling too harshly. He seems more friend than foe. So, lets hope he keeps screwing up.

UK retail sales 'at record low'

I could believe that.

Credit Crunch Good For Relationships, cahoot Reveals

This, I do not believe....

US economy grew at 3.3 percent in q2

I couldn't help laughing when I read this post. Most of the US growth improvement comes from a lower price deflator. In other words, the inflation rate of US output was very low, but when this output was put before consumers in the shopping malls, the corresponding inflation rate shot up a couple of percentage points. It is all the more strange, when we consider that US input prices are rising at double digit rates.

The implications are hilarious. If the US economy is indeed growing at 3.3 percent with an inflation rate approaching 6 percent, wouldn't it be sensible to push interest rates a little higher than 2 percent?

In reality, this growth rate stretches credibility. All the problems appear to be in the measurement of inflation.

Lehman Said to Be Poised to Eliminate as Many as 1,000 Jobs

I don't understand; isn't the US economy booming?

Nikkei: EU, Japan, US Discussed Coordinated Intervention to Support Dollar

Does this explain the dollar rally?

Fears over Spanish market prompt security link-up

Here is an example of some really lazy journalism. To me, it looks like a cut and paste job from a company press release.

Petanque in Manhattan Beach

Kudos to the City of Manhattan Beach, CA for organizing weekly petanque meets, as part of their Older Adults Program.
Like today, from 1 to 3pm.
Free of charge, for anyone who wants to discover the game.

Location: Dorsey Field at Live Oak Park
Need to Bring: Nothing, all equipment will be provided.

What better way to get folks away from the couch and the TV and make new friends?

909 views for a short history of UK house prices

Go on, watch it one more time, help me get to 1,000 views.

UK households expect fewer jobs

You are a miserable pessimistic lot!

Each month, the European Commission organizes a survey of household employment expectations. The survey is based on a simple question; households are asked whether they think there will be many or few jobs available in six months’ time.

Some answers will be positive, while some will be negative. In order to construct a meaningful statistic, the EC looks at the net balance. If answers, are generally postive about employment prospects, then the net balance will have a positive number, with higher numbers indicating a more optimistic outlook. Pessimistic answers are characterized by negative numbers.

Well, in the last few months, households have turned really negative about employment. Of course, this is completely consistent with what we know about economic growth, which was flat during the second quarter.

So, all the signs are there; the UK is rapidly sinking into a recession. It will be a recession marked by declining house prices, crushing household sector debt and rising inflation.

House prices down (again)

The UK housing crash keeps on exceeding expectations. It is worse than the worse case scenario.

Prices are now down 11.5 percent since the Autumn 2007 peak. We could be looking at the most violent housing crash in UK history. How low can they go? Most UK homeowners lack the imagination; they can not conceive how bad this crash will be.

Will Congressman Ruppersburger Rescue Turner's Station

AAEA and local activists are hoping that Congressman Dutch Ruppersburger (D-MD), left, and either Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) or Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) will introduce legislation during the abbreviated September session that will provide rescue and relief for the polluted Baltimore community of Turner's Station. We are calling for an expensing tax amendment on the 'hybrid legislation' that would provide tax incentives for some local companies to purchase community residences.

The Turner's Station Expensing Admendment should be added to the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008 (H.R. 6049),which amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide tax incentives for energy production and conservation, to extend expiring tax provisions, and to extend tax benefits to individual and business taxpayers. Amendment to Energy Tax bill:

Allow AES Corporation and Serverstal to expense the purchase of homes and buyout of renters in Turner Station, Baltimore Country, Maryland. Expensing amounts will equal $200,000 for renters, $350,000 for homeowners and $500,000 for apartment building owners owning more than two units. There are approximately 1,000 residences in Turner Station.

Background:

The community exists in the middle of a perfect storm of pollution sources. Turner Station is surrounded by a steel production plant, landfill, electric utility plant and the high power lines run through the community, soil and groundwater chromium contamination, Interstate Highway 695 yards away and nearby Patapsco River dredge spoil. Turner Station has to be the most polluted neighborhood in the United States.

Norris McDonald Statement to FERC

"AAEA Testifies at FERC Hearing On Baltimore LNG Proposal"

"AAEA Promotes Expensing As Environmental Justice Tool"

"Turner Station: The Most Polluted Community on Earth?"

Current and Proposed Facilities Surrounding Turner Station

AES has a proposal to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility on the front end of the Severstal site at Sparrows Point. The facility would be east of Turner's station.

Riverside Power Plant. Constellation Energy owns the 251 megawatt plant located south of Turner Station. The high power lines that run out of the plant form the northern border of Turner Station. According to the Riverside Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reportable releases in 2002 included 522,000 gallons of number 2 fuel oil (diesel fuel), 1,200,000 gallons of keresene, and 485,000 MCF (million cubic feet) of natural gas. The TRI reportable releases for 2003 were 752,000 gallons of number 2 fuel oil, 240,000 gallons of keresene, and 125,000 MCF of natural gas. The plant is south of Turner's station.

Honeywell International. Allied Chemical Company (Allied Signal) produced pesticides at its plant west of Turner Station and large areas around the facility are contaminated with chromium and arsenic. Honeywell International merged with Allied in 1999 and is now responsible for cleanup of the site. The contamination is west of Turner's Station.

Severstal, Russia's largest steelmaker, run by billionaire Alexei Mordashov, purchased and is currently operating the Sparrows Point steel mill southeast of Baltimore for $810 million, fulfilling an antitrust mandate that Arcelor Mittal divest itself of the Mittal Steel plant. The plant is east of Turner's Station.

OMG

$200.00 for 6 crappy boules in a box! (click on the image).

The box is very nice indeed, and the sales pitch not bad: a blend of our website and J. Peterman.
Also, what is it - 6 or 8?

For sale at Design within Reach

Joe Biden: Pro-Israel and Pro-Peace

Barack Obama’s vice presidential running mate is a friend of Israel who nonetheless has a complex and sophisticated perspective on the Middle East that resists easy classification. This JTA news service profile of Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware should reassure both nervous pro-Israel voters and those who seek a reasonable end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict [This is not meant as a Meretz USA endorsement of a candidate, which our tax status does not allow] :

... The loquacious Biden, a senator since 1973, has sparred frequently with the pro-Israel community and with Israelis, particularly on the issue of settlements. But he has a sterling voting record on pro-Israel issues and as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has helped shepherd through key pro-Israel legislation.

His straightforwardness is considered an asset, even among those supporters who have disagreed with him. ... Biden has been especially sharp in criticizing the United States and Israel in their failure to support Mahmoud Abbas in 2003, when he was the Palestinian Authority prime minister attempting to establish a power base to challenge then-President Yasser Arafat.

Abbas eventually was sidelined by Arafat, allowing the Palestinian leader to continue his policies of corruption and stasis until his death – and creating a vacuum ultimately filled in large part by Hamas terrorists.

"I’ve had my shouting matches over 25 years, privately, in my office and in the offices of prime ministers," Biden said in a March 2007 interview with the Forward. "I’ve had disagreements. Israel’s a democracy and they make mistakes. But the notion that somehow if Israel just did the right thing, [the peace process] would work, I mean that’s the premise, give me a break."

In that same interview, Biden firmly rejected calls for the United States to distance itself from Israel and assume a more neutral role in brokering Middle East peace talks.

"The suffering is real on both sides, but there is a side that can impact on ending it," he said. "The responsibility rests on those who will not acknowledge the right of Israel to exist, will not play fair, will not deal, will not renounce terror."

Just two months earlier, Biden took the lead in the Senate in rejecting the Iraq Study Group's assertion that the United States would not be able to achieve its goals in Iraq unless it "deals directly with the Arab-Israeli conflict."

"I do not accept the notion of linkage between Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict," Biden said during his opening remarks at a Jan. 17, 2007 Senate hearing. "Arab-Israeli peace is worth pursuing vigorously on its own merits, but even if a peace treaty were signed tomorrow, it would not end the civil war in Iraq."

... Biden's son married into a Jewish family, but his keen interest in the region dates back to his first visit as a senator, not long before the 1973 Yom Kippur. He met Israel's then-prime minister, Golda Meir.

In an interview with Shalom TV last year, when he launched his own presidential bid, Biden said he came away from that meeting understanding that "there is this inextricable tie between culture, religion, ethnicity that most people don't fully understand – that is unique and so strong with Jews worldwide."

"When I was a young senator, I used to say, 'If I were a Jew, I'd be a Zionist.' I am a Zionist," he said. "You don't have to be a Jew to be a Zionist." ...

This entire article can be read at the JTA.org Web site. One can also get a glimpse of his interview on Shalom TV (our thanks to Werner Cohn for spotting this) for a sense of Sen. Biden’s sincerity and good will.

Honky Tonk Petanque

On Sept 20, the Ferry County Fairgrounds in Republic, WA will be the setting again for the annual Marius Ciais Memorial tournament.

The organizers are absolutely on the right frequency:

Why Play Petanque?
1. Enjoy being in scenic outdoor surroundings.
2. The exercise - stopping, bending, tossing, dancing for joy, getting hugs....
3. The food, the drink!
4. The opportunity to compete with other teams & clubs and meet new people.
5. To have a great time!
6. To win prize money!!

Honky Tonk Petanque website

Stop staring!

A classic scene from the 1978 comedy "Je suis timide, mais je me soigne", where Robert Castel makes a stink about Pierre Richard watching him when he's ready to shoot. In the eyes, to boot.
"He breaks my arm" he claims. Even after they ask the guy to move away. It goes from bad to worse: at the end he cannot even stand ànybody watching him. And misses every shot.
As usual with Provençal players, even if you don't understand the words, body language and volume are more than adequate to catch the drift.



At one stage a player remarks that Castel will suffer a "nervooze brêkdown", and that there's 400,000 at stake. Even in "anciens francs" not a negligible amount!

Pierre Richard - meanwhile 74 and still very active - will appear later this year in "King Guillaume", a comedy about William the Conqueror.

Amory Lovins Disses and Dismisses African American Environmentalist Association

Physicist Amory B. Lovins, right, is Cofounder, Chairman, and Chief Scientist of Rocky Mountain Institute and he has issued a new report entitled, "The Nuclear Illusion," which concludes that:

"The case for nuclear power to protect the climate and enhance security is purely rhetorical and cannot withstand analytic scrutiny. The supposed nuclear revival is a carefully manufactured illusion that seeks to become a self-fulfilling prophecy, yet it cannot actually occur in a market economy, as many energy-industry leaders privately acknowledge."

Lovins mentions four people who support nuclear power and refutes their positions. He states that no green groups share their view and then Lovins dismisses AAEA in the first footnote in the report by stating:

"No environmental group of any consequence—only industry front groups—shares their views."

Well AAEA is NOT an industry front group. We have been around for 23 years and have a rich history of environmental work. The quote is aimed directly at us because we are the only environmental group in the United States that supports nuclear power. He at least recognizes the four other people who support nuclear power, but these individuals, like Lovins, ignore AAEA's nuclear power work too.

It is not unusual that Lovins would ignore us because the environmental movement is one of the most segregated and racist sectors of American society. AAEA has also documented the elite racism of the environmental movement. So we are not surprised by Lovins rendering us invisible. Clearly, many self-worshipping scientists emulate the example of James Watson and they are a dime a dozen. Maybe it is this feeling of superiority that explains why most environmental groups do not hire blacks in policy positions or hire just one to cover their general discrimination.

Of course, Mr. Lovins must not think much of Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson or the Congressional Black Caucus either. She is including us on her Science and Technology Braintrust at the CBC's annual conference this year. Lovins must think that Congresswoman Johnson has bad judgment. Moreover, AAEA's president organized the first energy forum in 1981 for the CBC for the late Congressman Mickey Leland. We could go on with our accomplishments but it will not matter to people like Lovins. We clearly are of no consequence to him and his ilk, but we provide a very valuable service to society in general and the African American community, which is excluded and ignored by the environmental movement. It is accurate to say that we are 'little known,' but saying we are of 'no consequence' appears to us to be an expression of one's opinion about the Black community.

Hybrid Energy Bill Will Include Offshore Drilling & Green Jobs

When Congress returns after labor day for a hyper three week session, energy legislation will be on the front burner. Although they could not pass a bill before the August recess, and some Republicans even stayed in town calling for members to return to pass a bill, Congress will probably merge the offshore oil drilling and green jobs components of the two bills described below that failed to pass.

A bipartisan group of 10 senators ("Gang of Ten") are cosponsoring New Energy Reform Act of 2008 in hopes of breaking the Senate deadlock on energy legislation. The legislation includes limited offshore drilling with increased investment in new energy technologies. A portion of the funding for renewables would come from taking back tax breaks from the oil industry. The bill also sets a goal of fueling 85 percent of the country's automobiles with alternatives to oil within 20 years. (More)

The Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008 (H.R. 6049) amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide tax incentives for energy production and conservation, to extend expiring tax provisions, and to extend tax benefits to individual and business taxpayers. The bill was sponsored by House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel and was passed by the House on May 21, 2008, but failed cloture votes in the Senate on June 10 and June 17. (More)

Marseillaise in Quebec

Here's a slideshow of the weekend.
Still to be fine tuned, and some comments to be added, but at least those of you who were there can already kind of relive the weekend.

Quebec slideshow ( 4.50 min - with music)

Georgia-Russia-Israel, Part 2

There was more from the JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency) news service on Friday regarding Israel’s delicate dance in balancing its sympathies and its interests between Georgia and Russia. Sunday’s NY Times had a fascinating little article on how language separates some 40 distinct ethnic groups in the Caucasus region, including the Ossetians who speak a language related to Farsi (Persian) and the Georgians whose tongue most closely resembles that of the Basques. There was also a captivating report in the PBS Newshour television program on the rebel Georgian territory of Abkhazia.

One was struck in the PBS program on how sympathetic the Abkhazian people seemed. In particular, there was the honesty and sensitivity of the young vice foreign minister and the earnest concerns of a spokeswoman for something called the "Centre for Humanitarian Programmes." It’s obvious that both Abkhazians and Georgians have suffered. In this, and undoubtedly with the struggle in the other rebel region of South Ossetia, innocents have suffered and crimes have been committed on both sides, as with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Russia has just recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as "independent" states. It is generally believed that Russia will annex these territories as "autonomous" republics or regions (like the old Soviet Union, Russia is officially a federal state). The Abkhaz and South Ossetian peoples are thought to fully expect and to welcome their incorporation into the Russian Federation. (One wonders how they will feel afterwards.) What follows is part of the PBS Newshour transcript:

... Abkhazia and another region within Georgia, South Ossetia, remained part of Georgia. Amidst the turbulence and national awakenings of the early '90s, both decided to push for independence, too. Although most people on both sides are [Eastern] Orthodox Christians, the Abkhaz consider themselves ethnically different from Georgians.

Georgia moved militarily against the breakaway regions in a war that lasted two years. There is a war memorial in the Abkhaz capital, Sukhumi, but you don't need to visit it to remember what happened here.

On every block, on every corner, empty shells stand where beautiful villas once hosted generals and leaders. Billboards all over town remind citizens of the heavy price they paid.

Both sides have made harsh accusations. The Abkhaz say deliberate attempts were made to erase them from history. The Georgians claim they were ethnically cleansed. And, indeed, even today, 15 years later, more than 200,000 people driven from Abkhazia during the war now live as refugees in Georgia, many in squalid settlements near the border, unable to return.

Maxim Gunjia is only 32, but he has already spent a decade in the Abkhaz government, and he remembers the 1992 war very well.

What are your memories of those days?

MAXIM GUNJIA, Vice Foreign Minister, Abkhazia: Very bad memories. It's a very strange situation when you start to understand human reality, human identity. And humans could be very cruel, very rough. It's very strange to see how people change in a second.

KIRA KAY: And there was a lot of violence against ethnic Georgians, too?

MAXIM GUNJIA: You're right. This is war. There was a lot -- a lot of crimes, I would say. When the fighting starts, you already can hardly say who is right and who is wrong. It is a very sad situation. Click here for the entire report in both transcript and video forms.

The Known World Pétanque Championship

Summer is the time for Renaissance festivals all across the country. In most of these, the public watches costumed actors performing.

But in events organized by the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), public and actors are one and the same: from bakers to barbers, from keg makers to Kings. And warriors that fight it out at the annual Pennsic wars at Coopers Lake near Pittsburgh, early August.

Now, what's the link with pétanque?
Every year one of the households of the East Kingdom, Le Rieur Sanglier (from Québec) hosts a pétanque tournament. After all, the game of boules is century-old, so it fits right in. And teams like "Medieval Beaver", "Grey Beard's" and "Chalkman" (the winners) go at it all day.

2008 Tournament report with pics

Thanks to Bill for the story!

We are running out of time for a two-state solution

The following is from Meretz USA's electronic newsletter on August 22:

For some time now, Meretz USA, has been warning that, when it comes to peacemaking, time is not on Israel's side.

We have cautioned that the situation in the Middle East is never static: That if options for peace exist today, they must be seized with full force, for they might not be there tomorrow.

We have insisted, together with other American Jewish organizations dedicated to Middle East peace, such as Americans for Peace Now, Brit Tzedek V'Shalom and Ameinu, that Israel does not have the luxury of blithely waiting for "perfect timing", or until the "ideal Palestinian leader" emerges - for this will mean that meaningful peace talks will never progress.

These arguments unfortunately received even further validation this past week, when the President of Al-Quds University in Jerusalem, Prof. Sari Nusseibeh, was interviewed in Haaretz by journalist Akiva Eldar.

Perhaps more than any other Palestinian figure, Prof. Nusseibeh represents a nonviolent Palestinian political realism, which translated a generation ago into his courageous, wholehearted, unswerving support for a two-state solution. So when Prof. Nusseibeh was quoted last week as contemplating the imminent death of the two-state solution, it should have come as an earthquake for any lover of a peaceful Israel.

This interview, in which Nusseibeh expresses the belief that, if peace doesn't happen soon, the Palestinian Authority should be disbanded and Palestinians should press for equal rights within a single state, should be taken very seriously. Nusseibeh is not a games-player; he is an intellectual with a keen eye for where developments are moving the peoples in the region. It would be folly to dismiss his projections.

Click here to read the interview with Nusseibeh.

Come out and Play in San Francisco!

New boules designs

Obut's new "Sunfolies" and "Tatou" boules, that were presented to the public at La Marseillaise in July, have arrived at our warehouse.

I am very pleased, because for many years we've asked them to come up with designs that stand out and to increase the variety. We all know that bocce has an advantage over petanque in that colored balls are much easier to recognize, especially for beginning players.

But it's not that simple: the traditional circles that all manufacturers use, are done on a lathe, by cutting circular grooves and removing minute quantities of steel.
These new designs are cold stamped, while the boules are rolled under a press. Not an easy task, because the pressure applied has to be strong enough to deform the surface, but without "squeezing" the hollow spheres. Nobody wants to play with eggs!

Sunfolies are simple shapes, the Tatous are more intricate.
I tried out the "bubbles" last week in Quebec for fun games with the NY guys at the end of the tournament, and they have a real nice feel. And everyone knew whose they were ;-)

Fun designs

Hampshire Constabulary must disclose details of cars provided to chief officers

ICO press release
21 August 2008

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has ordered the Chief Constable of Hampshire Constabulary to disclose the make and model of vehicles provided to Chief Police Officers for their personal use. The public authority confirmed that two Assitant Chief Constables are provided with vehicles for their own use.

The Chief Constable of Hampshire Constabulary refused to release the requested information maintaining it was exempt from disclosure as the details could allow the vehicles to be identified and to make them less effective for policing purposes. Hampshire Constabulary also argued that disclosure may lead to criminals and members of the public being able to identify the vehicles which could increase the likelihood of the officers being attacked.

In reaching his decision, the Assistant Information Commissioner Steve Wood considered whether disclosing the relevant details would prejudice policing operations carried out by the police officers. He accepted that disclosure of the requested information could lead to the cars being identified as police vehicles. However there was no evidence to suggest that either car is used in covert surveillance operations that could be undermined if information assisting their identification were released.

Full press release.

Winners pay for drinks!

Jacques Pépin is not only a world renowned chef but also a passionate petanque player.
And he agrees that - when you win - you should offer the losing team a drink. A wonderful Provençal tradition that has not yet made it all the way across the Atlantic.
So guys & gals, remember: at pétanque you win either way!

More about Jacques Pepin

"Losers" T-shirt

Georgia-Russia-Israel

Evidently, there are some marginal Israeli connections to the Georgian-Russian conflict that broke out the other week. There’s an Israeli ex-general, who was booted from active service in the IDF for poor performance during the Lebanon war of two years ago, who worked in Georgia as a private contractor/consultant. Apparently, the Georgians might have been better off if this guy, Gal Hirsch, had stayed home.

There were also other Israeli arms and security contracts to supply and assist the Georgian forces. According to the JTA news service, Israel's defense contracts with Georgia are worth $200 million (small by comparison with those of the US), but Israel is now backing away from other such deals, as it very much needs Russia's good will in dealing with Iran. Russia's looming profits in supplying anti-aircraft missiles to Iran and Syria and in assisting Iran's nuclear facilities make such help dubious, but Israel needs to at least be in a position to try.

My overall impression of the conflict is pretty much the same as expressed by Tom Friedman in the NY Times, "What Did We Expect?" The US, Europe and NATO have overreached in pushing NATO’s borders to Russia itself, by incorporating Poland, the three Baltic states, the Czech Republic and some other former Soviet Warsaw Pact allies. The prospect of NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine has pushed Russia beyond its capacity for patience.

Powered by its now prosperous oil and natural gas industries, Putin’s Russia has not only gone most of the way toward a new dictatorship based in the Kremlin, but also toward reasserting itself as a major military power. It’s more a case of Russia stretching its imperial muscles to rid itself of the taste of humiliation and defeat emanating from the collapse of the Soviet Union, than that Russia has justice on its side. But the practical reality is that its effective exercise of armed force in Georgia marks Russia’s coming out party as one of the five major world powers – alongside the US, China, Europe and India. Other important powers include Brazil, Japan and South Korea, but Russia is now clearly back as one of the big five.

And the US is no longer the sole superpower that it was in the 1990s and prior to our recent difficulties in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, the US is no longer a superpower at all; there are no current superpowers.

Russia’s conflict with Georgia has rights and wrongs on both sides. In this, and in this alone, it resembles the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Clearly, Georgia had a legal right to try to reincorporate the rebel territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by force. Just as clearly, this was foolhardy to attempt, since Russian "peacekeeping" troops were surely among those killed in Georgia’s offensive in South Ossetia that began this war. There was no way that NATO, the US or anybody else could effectively defend Georgia from Russia’s powerful (and from their point of view, justified) counterattack. That Russian forces are now lingering in Georgia, should hardly be a surprise.

Lost in all this are the rights of the ethnic peoples of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, who currently must regard the Russians as their saviors. But these, as well as the Georgians, must all regard themselves as long-suffering small peoples who exist in the shadow of, and at the sufferance of, greater powers.

In this, we Jews may sympathize with all of them. But Israel needs to see to it that this newly resurgent and assertive Russia does not regard Israel as an enemy, unlike the Soviet Union of yore. It is especially important that Russia (and China) be persuaded to help in containing the nuclear ambitions of Iran; since this is less likely now (due to Russia’s more feisty and uncooperative attitude toward the West), the conflict in Georgia may have cost Israel grievously.

AAEA on Eddie Bernice Johnson Science & Technology Braintrust

On September 26th, Congresswoman Johnson (D-TX), a long-time member of the House Science Committee, will host the Science and Technology Braintrust. The Braintrust is a panel discussion that is part of a larger event called the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference. This year's Braintrust will focus on the technology of energy and environmental conservation. We will discuss sustainability from the academic-, corporate-, and federal perspectives as well as the education and skills needed for students of color to pursue careers in these areas.

Event: Science & Technology Braintrust: How Science is Saving the Environment. A panel discussion on novel efforts to promote sustainability, and the science behind the efforts.
Date: Friday, September 26, 2008, from 9-noon
Place: Washington, D.C. Convention Center, Room 149-A
Audience: Approximately 100. Many will be school children from the D.C. area, and there will also be federal agency officials, nonprofit leaders, and other policy leaders.

Panelists:

- Sheryl Lee Ralph - Actress and education advocate
- Norris McDonald - President, African American Environmentalist Association
- Miquela Craytor - Executive Director, Sustainable South Bronx
- Miranda Anderson - Director of Corporate Affairs for Sustainability, Wal-Mart
- Bob Langert - Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility, McDonald's
- Donald Foley - Executive Director, Progressive Automotive XPRIZE
- DC-area schools

Moderator:
- Cynné Simpson - Anchor, ABC7/WJLA-TV

Congressman James Clyburn Sponsors Nuclear Power Conference

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) is sponsoring a nuclear power conference entitled, "Securing Our Future: The Nuclear Alternative," in Charleston, South Carolina from August 21-23, 2008. Congressman Clyburn supports nuclear power and half of South Carolina's electricity is generated by fission. The conference will address the following questions about nuclear power:

Is nuclear energy a viable, cost-effective alternative to other generation methods?

Is it safe and reliable?

Will environmental justice concerns be addressed when planning, building and operating nuclear energy facilities?

Under what circumstances will American embrace nuclear energy as an acceptable alternative to existing generation methods?

Assuming a new generation of nuclear powered generating stations are built, does America have a sufficiently educated and trained workforce to build, operate and maintain such facilities in a safe, reliable fashion?

The conference document states that:

Until these questions are answered to the satisfaction of citizens, public and private interest groups, corporation, policy-makers and elected officials, the future of nuclear powered generating stations is unclear

The South Carolina Congressional delegation along with the governor and mayor the city have been invited to provide opening remarks. Panels include: The Nuclear Regulatory Process as a Function of Government, A Utility Industry Perspective on the Nuclear Regulatory Process, A Wall Street Perspective on the Financial Realities of Nuclear Energy, Disposal, Transportation and Storage of Radioactive Waste Material, 21st Century Technology and the Nuclear Energy Industry, The Community/Citizen Perspective on Nuclear Energy, Workforce Development for the Nuclear Energy Industry, and Energy and the Election.

AAEA Nuclear Activities

Be Aware

David Byrne's Bike Racks installed in NYC

NYT

Marseillaise in Quebec

The winners, surrounded by representatives of La Marseillaise (the newspaper and the tournament), the Provence Tourist Board, and Ricard. On the far right Roger Roy, the tireless petanque fanatic/organizer, for whom this event was a dream come true. Though numerous sleepless nights prevented him from dreaming much the weeks before...

Click here for a full report about the tournament, by Joe Martin, President of FPUSA.

National Clean Energy Summit

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Center for American Progress Action Fund and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) organized and held the National Clean Energy Summit this week at the Cox Pavilion at UNLV. The conference with politicians and energy experts is pushing for a future without a dependence on oil. Reid calls Nevada "the Saudi Arabia of renewable energy," and it has 57 operating renewable energy projects, which heat and cool 200,000 homes.

Texas oilman-turned-windpower advocate T. Boone Pickens, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, Utah's Republican Gov. John Huntsman, and former President Bill Clinton, among others, spoke at the conference. Panel discussions included green jobs creation, improving efficiency for businesses, and government's role in encouraging a transition from fossil fuels.

Petanque in Harvard

Last Saturday the walkways in front of Harvard Medical School were once again the scene of the annual petanque tournament organized by Nico & Jeff.
Philippe, Matt & Francois from Le Mistral Club came out the big winners this time.
But everyone had fun, a couple of brand new players did extremely well, and the teams - some with funny team names like "Les Bouleversantes", "Pétanque Warriors" & "Les Tontons" - are determined to start training for the next edition.

How appropriate: Gordon Hall was built in 1904, three 3 years before petanque was born.
By the way, looking at these pics: who was it again who said petanque is a game for old folks..? ;-)

Boules & bells in Quebec

An amazing weekend. And hats off for the organizers.
Let's start with an overview of the court area. This was on Saturday afternoon, shortly before 4pm while bells of a nearby church were ringing. It could have been anywhere in Europe.

Dancing in the Streets

They danced the tango in Portland, Ore., they're doing the samba in New York, and by the end of this month, they'll be dancing in the streets of San Francisco. It's urban planning with a Latin twist, a simple idea imported from South America for transforming the cityscape. Temporary street closures, or ciclovias, are sweeping across the US, as cities take a new look at alternative uses for their streets.
Christian Science Monitor

ICO publishes new guidance for public authorities

The following guidance has recently been published by the ICO:

Publishing of minutes and agendas (version 1 31 July 2008)
Requests for information about the deceased (version 2 31 July 2008)
How to deal with requests for information contained within complaints and investigation files (version 1 15 August 2008)
Circumstances where the names of individuals may be disclosed (version 1 15 August 2008)

Middle East ‘Meetup’

It was Thurs, Aug. 14 at the Irish Rogue, a very pleasant tavern at 44th St. and 9th Ave., Manhattan, that I attended a "Meetup" about Middle East peace. It began with some socializing and then a screening of "Blood and Tears," a 70 minute documentary on the Israeli-Arab conflict. The event’s sociable organizer, David Greene, mentioned that he's a member of Brit Tzedek V'Shalom and is interested in what we do at Meretz USA. We chatted amiably.

The film was selected for its relative objectivity. It did indeed attempt balance and presented a wide gamut of views, including two or three brief comments by Yossi Beilin, the immediate past leader of the Meretz party (and also from his predecessor, Yossi Sarid). Yet, due to its modest length, the film had to be less than comprehensive.

We broke into small groups for discussion around a list of questions. A discussant sitting opposite me, bitterly criticized the film for showing most Israelis to be reasonable and many Palestinians to be extreme. I think her criticism is valid. This reflects a flaw in the film in not revealing more about the difficulties and injustices confronting Palestinians as a result of the settlements and the behavior of extremist settlers, soldiers and police.

I also noted how the film telescopes history by ignoring (as do so many sources and analysts) the fact that the Palestinian Arabs themselves launched a serious effort to destroy the Jewish community in Palestine half a year before Israel declared its independence on May 15, 1948 and was promptly attacked by four outside Arab armies.

The subject matter is extremely difficult. One pro-Palestinian discussant called my citation of this historical detail, "the Zionist narrative." My response is that since you find this in the work of the New Historians (known for debunking the official "Zionist narrative"), it is nothing of the sort. But my disagreement with this gentleman, and with another who I believe is of Arab origin, was polite; both were open to the possibility of compromise.

Alas, my disagreement with a young woman who is apparently an activist for the Palestinian cause, was bitter. She could not see anything the Palestinians did or ever do as explaining their plight. It had to be entirely and completely the fault of the Israelis. Even when I said that I consider many or most Israeli security measures to be disproportionate and that I'm opposed to the settlement enterprise and occupation, she could not acknowledge common ground.

Sadly, I lost my cool and started to scream at her, calling her a bigot. Still, she did note the name of Hashomer Hatzair (which she had never heard of), when I brought up our lineage with a Zionist current that didn't even support the concept of a Jewish state until after the Arab onslaught of 1947-48.

As I left for the evening, another group participant (who felt he was too ignorant of the issues to register an opinion) expressed concern for my welfare, stating that talking to somebody like that young woman was like "talking to the wall." I had to agree that she was not worth raising my blood pressure, but I admitted that this was just such an emotional issue for me. Even so, I felt validated by, and grateful for, his kind words.

Dram Shop is Good!

My neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn is seeing a true hamburger renaissance of sorts with the opening of 4 new burger joints in just the last few months. Two are not worth it unfortunately but the other two are outstanding. One of my faves, Five Guys, is now open only 5 blocks from my house and the bar Dram Shop on 9th St. serves up a damned fine burger. Good friend and burger confidant Josh 'Mr. Cutlets' Ozersky sent me this email:

"George, have you eaten this Dram Shop burger? It's great! I went there today and they made it for me mediumish, and it was fabulous! Loved it! Eat it and tell me what you think."

Now, understand that Josh and I have very similar tastes when it comes to burgers. Josh loves thin-patty wonders and, like me, tries to avoid burger behemoths and bloated wallet-busters. But it was seeing 3 exclamation points in his short email that had me itching for more.

The Dram Shop burger, at the top of their short menu, is most definitely a thin-patty wonder. The burger comes with shredded lettuce, tomato, chopped onion, mayo, and mustard on a white squishy bun. By default the burger is a double and the patties are fresh ground, thin, and square and cooked on a flattop griddle. I noticed on the menu that the burger 'recipe' comes from the owner's family's Mallow Grocery in Dallas. There's no question, with the mayo, the twin patties, and the shredded lettuce that this is a classic Texas drive-in burger. It is as authentic as it gets for NYC - close your eyes, take a bite, and end up in Texas. Josh was right. It was fabulous.