Alaskan Gas to China?

Those segments of the US beholden to both big business and America-firstness have a big conundrum looming on the horizon: what to do with the natural gas supplies waiting to be developed on the Alaskan North Slope. TransCanada and ExxonMobil have filed their plans to seek shippers with the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and …

Bush Inc. rolls on!

Kuwaiti Company Makes Huge Gas Find in Texas So let me get this straight; letting China (CNOOC) buy Unocal was somehow an afront to both our security and our sensibilities as Americans, but it's OK to lease onshore drilling rights in the US to companies from Kuwait?? How does that benefit us in this time …

Pharmacological Origins of Fireworks

Imagine sitting on your hill in pre-biblical China, head full of dank. The sun's gone down so you can't really space out on much anymore. You still have to wait a few thousand years for someone to invent the TV (lord knows your high-on ass is never gonna get around to it). And all the …

W.: The Real Damage Done

I have held for years now that the damage brought about by the reign of George W. Bush can most clearly be measured by our (the United States') diminished standing in the world. This stretches will beyond the war in Iraq. Put plainly, while he has pursued a course of unilateralism bordering on the isolationist, the …

Obama v. McCain: The Truth is Out There

"We are in the bottom of the ninth. "Much like the 1969 'Miracle Mets,' Barack Obama stands on the precipice of history. Barring an error of Bill Buckneresque proportions, Senator Obama will very likely be the winner of the seemingly perpetual 2008 presidential election. The Senator from Illinois- home of the Cubs, the White Sox …

Debate #1: Obama in a landslide

The format seemed to work well. Enough actual interaction happened that it wasn't all just stumping. Category-by-category it went something like this (my comments in bold): Financial Recovery Plan Obama: We need oversight. We need no padding for the executives. We need to help homeowners. This is the final verdict of 8 years of failed …

It sucks to be little…as we will soon find out

 Nothing simultaneously amuses and infuriates me more than when W. or someone from his circle describes someone or something else as "irresponsible." This from a guy who's presided over an unprecedented growth of the U.S. government, run up record deficits (as part of an also unprecedented transfer of wealth to the upper 1% of the country), …