Michigan Citizens, The Medicaid Expansion bill is still in the Senate. Why you may ask? After the initial vote there was ANOTHER vote to give the bill immediate effect. According to the Michigan Constitution there needs to be 2/3 majority vote to give a bill immediate effect or else the bill (HB 4714) does …
"A new tax on solar power introduced two weeks ago by the Spanish government has been described as 'ludicrous' and 'stupid' in two leading international publications. Business Spectator interviewed people who plan to ignore the new law, including Sergio Pomar, chief executive of energy-efficient installation firm INEL. He said: 'If I spend €600 to install solar panels and get fined €6 million let the judge decide.' Private individuals who fail to hook their solar panels up to the national grid to be metered and taxed could face fines of up to €30 million ($40 million) under the new law. Some homeowners have removed their solar panels rather than face fines of up to €30 million." Continue reading →
"New York University sociology professor Eric Klinenberg said it is 'indefensible' for people to use air conditioning the way we do. Klinenberg argues that air conditioning requires too much electricity, the generation of which accelerates global warming. 'What’s indefensible is our habit of converting homes, offices and massive commercial outlets into igloos on summer days, regardless of how hot it is outdoors,' wrote Klinenberg. Klinenberg also argued for laws requiring businesses to keep summer temperatures at their facilities above a government-dictated mandatory minimum." Continue reading →
"US Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday the evidence for climate change was beyond dispute but it was not too late for international action to prevent its worst impacts. 'The science is clear. It is irrefutable and it is alarming,' Kerry told a climate conference in Majuro in the Marshall Islands in a video address from Washington. 'If we continue down our current path, the impacts of climate change will only get worse.' Kerry said without strong, immediate action, the world would experience threats to critical infrastructure, regional stability, public health, economic vitality, and the long-term viability of some states." Continue reading →
"'Each day that goes by,' Kerry said, 'this case is getting stronger. I mean, today I'm at liberty to tell you that we now have samples back from first responders in East Damascus - those samples of hair and blood have been tested, and they have reported positive for signatures of sarin. So, we are now getting a stronger case each day. The credibility of the United States is on the line here and I believe that Congress will do the right thing.'" Continue reading →
"Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal urged the Arab League to back a military strike against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime after the chemical attack on Ghouta in which hundreds of Syrians were killed. Away from humanitarian concerns over the Syrian victims of chemical attacks, the Saudi antagonism to Assad’s regime started in 2006, when it appeared that together with Iraq, Syria was beginning to drift even more toward the Iranian sphere of influence and away from the Saudi-led Arab position, causing discomfort in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia aims to return Syria to its fold after years of estrangement and even hostility." Continue reading →
"CNN's Reza Sayah reports from Egypt, where the Arab League is calling for measures against Syria." Continue reading →
"The Congressional vote which Obama said he would seek appears, in his mind, to have no binding force at all. There is no reason to believe that a Congressional rejection of the war's authorization would constrain Obama in any way, other than perhaps politically. To the contrary, there is substantial evidence for the proposition that the White House sees the vote as purely advisory, i.e., meaningless. Recall how - in one of most overlooked bad acts of the Obama administration - the House of Representatives actually voted, overwhelmingly, against authorizing the US war in Libya, and yet Obama simply ignored the vote and proceeded to prosecute the war anyway." Continue reading →
"Russell Brand joined Alex Jones for a Friday afternoon chat on many topics. Here Russell explains why he thinks we are not getting the real story on the US Syrian war talk." Continue reading →
"Are we witnessing the beginnings of a new military member internet meme? Military members are donning their uniforms and posting pictures of themselves with signs covering their faces that read, 'I didn’t join the [military service branch name] to fight for Al-Quaeda in a Syrian civil war.' The first image surfaced on the internet a few days ago and now another military member has made their own version. Have military members finally found a way to speak out against U.S. Imperial foreign policies?" Continue reading →