Thanks to the Germans for the type of leadership the world needs!

The kind of leadership the world needs, not the "clean coal and nuclear is safe now" corporate line that Obama is taking. The Germans hit the streets - 100,000 of them in protest of their nuclear industry, they get the credit for this really. The politicians tend to follow - where are our protesters?

From Democracy Now:

Germany Announces Plans To Close Nuclear Plants Amid Massive Protests

Germany has announced plans to close its 17 nuclear power plants by 2022. Chancellor Angela Merkel described the move as a revolution in energy supply.

German Chancellor, Angela Merkel: "Step by step, we will abandon nuclear energy by the end of 2022. This path is a big challenge for Germany, but it also means huge opportunities for future generations. We believe that our country can become a front runner for the creation of renewable energy and as the first large industrial nation, we can create such a change towards highly efficient and renewable energies, with all its opportunities for export, developments and technology which create jobs."

The safety of Germany’s nuclear plants has come under increased scrutiny in the wake of Japan’s ongoing nuclear crisis. Angela Merkel announced the nuclear phase-out two days after an estimated 100,000 anti-nuclear protesters gathered in 20 German cities.

The (Republican) Circus is coming to town

So I have been too busy to comment much on politics, although with the lunatics in charge of they asylum (The House of Representatives) I have plenty to say.

But the fun is just beginning as the circus is coming to town - gearing up for the 2012 Presidential elections. I am not ready for another election, but as painful as it is going to be, it will hopefully provide for some laughs. (I laugh to avoid crying)

Certainly the best clown for the circus is Donald Trump. Not too likely to win the nomination but he is getting a lot of media attention. This is a man who, despite all the evidence and facts that have been presented to prove Obama was actually born in Hawaii (even Fox news has admitted as such), Trump was still questioning the fact (as have other Republican politicians). Obama last week had the long form of the birth certificate released and he said in response to Trump that there is not time for such distractions and we need to focus on the problems America faces.

In response to the release - Trump said he was "proud" to have pushed the birther issue. Imagine, someone who is proud to ignore facts for political gain wanting to be president, oh, I forgot, he is a Republican, that is what they do.

So now that the birth issue is settled, what was the issue Trump moved to next? Now he is questioning Obama's grades in school.

I did hear Trump comment on one real issue - regulation. He states the republican position painfully well. He said that the high gas prices was due to Obama and the regulations he put in place after the BP Gulf oil spill. Trump said government regulations should be gotten rid of. He said - 'sure, we will have oil spills, but we will clean them up and move on, no big deal.'

This stance is of course ridiculous if you are concerned about the economy. How many small businesses - fishermen, hotels, restaurants, tour guides, etc, went out of business due to the spill? What is the long term effect on America's largest economic fishery? Not to mention the death of animals and the death of the workers on the rig. Of course new regulations is not what we need as much as enforcement of current ones. The other reason the republican stance on this is is foolish is that Obama actually did not go overboard in regulating the oil industry, quite the opposite, in every instance the Republicans complain about too much regulation (financial, oil, nuclear), Obama has actually given in to industry far more than he has protected the people. Their premise that Obama is overreaching with government regulation is just false.

It is going to be an interesting election year if nothing else.

Peace...

Bernie Sanders has it right! It is not rocket science.

Video: GOP mocks nuclear safety

Here is a great little video of some GOP senators mocking nuclear safety.

Nuclear energy is subsidized by the tax payers - much of that money is used to buy politicians which is why there is so much support for an industry that creates highly toxic waste that will last tens of thousands of years. Intelligent.

The GOP wants to end Unions because they give money to Democrats and influence politicians. I would be fine with ending the money coming from unions into politics if we ended the money from toxic radioactive corporations and Billionaires like the Koch brothers influencing politics too. Can you say "reverse Citizens United please"!

just say no to Nuclear power, duh

It seems obvious to me, nuclear power is a bad idea.

With respect to the people in Japan and those around the world who are concerned about them, I will not turn this into a cynical rant about reasons why the nuclear industry has such a strong hold on our government and governments around the world. One of the few things Democrats and Republicans agree on is that we should build new nuclear reactors here and around the world. (They also agree that Iran should not build them.)

I understand there are those who put forth arguments in favor of nuclear power. It can supply a lot of electricity.

But spreading such a dangerous technology all over the world seems plain stupid. How can we ever expect there will not be an accident (caused by nature, terrorism, human error, whatever). How can we think producing radioactive waste is a good idea?

Our elected leaders will only follow. Right now they are being led by money. People need to get out and have their voices heard if they are against nuclear power (and weapons).

There are many power plants around the world who's contracts are being considered for renewal. These must be shut down. New nuclear power plants should not be built.

It costs billions of dollars to build nuclear power plants and to protect them and their waste. That money would go far in the wind and solar industry.

The Federal Government: Robin the Hood

Well I was gonna start out by blaming Obama, as his new budget proposes major cuts in domestic spending. Things like heating assistance for low income families so they don't freeze (or starve by spending their money on heating), water treatment grants, airport grants, pell grants, etc. In other words he is slashing jobs during a recession. Right after we gave Billionaires a tax break. (In fact the cuts will save us far less each year than the tax breaks cost us.)

Slashing domestic spending is the opposite of what should happen in a recession. Money going to poor people gets spent, helping the economy. Money going to Billionaires gets put in the bank. In fact the lower the tax on the rich, the more corporations pay them. When we had a super high income tax on the super rich, corporations actually reinvested their money in their company.

And of course, looking down the road, the cost of health care is the real drain on the economy and the largest factor increasing the deficit. Too bad the chamber of commerce (who Obama courted last week) spent tens of millions to advertise against a public option.

So Obama is taking from the poor and middle class and giving to the rich. And ensuring a slower recovery from the recession, making his re-election bid less likely. (OK, for those of you who worry about the deficit two things: the quickest way to get rid of it would be to get our economy going again so we have revenue, but if we must cut, how about cutting OVERSEAS spending - try closing our military bases in Japan - they don't want us there anyway, or Germany, or Bahrain, or Italy, or Bulgaria, or Iraq, or Afghanistan, or any of the 63 countries where we have military bases.)

But I said I was not going to blame Obama. Well he does not deserve all the blame. The Republicans want to slash far more of the budget. Obama actually increased spending in some areas like clean energy. The Republicans also want to make the tax cuts permenant and Obama has said this is a mistake.

So while I feel like I am sucking on a lemon when I hear what Obama is doing and the decisions he is making, if the Republicans get their way we will be eating shit.

I will take the lemon, but I hope enough Democrats are willing to suck it up rather than staying home on election day or we all just might have to choke down the latter.

Asmaa Mahfouz & the YouTube Video that Helped Spark the Egyptian Uprising

This is inspiring, often we think one person cannot have a huge effect on the world, this woman proves that idea wrong. I also love the feeling of solidarity and peace that she conveys regarding the popular movement in Egypt. This is sure a much nicer form of regime change than "Shock and Awe".