Aug
11

MoveOn Absorbs DNC Grassroots Group

In an arguably illegal move, MoveOn.org has absorbed a grassroots/canvassing group of the DNC.  My source, a canvasser, was hired by the DNC in the past month and that is where the first paychecks came from. Since last Wednesday, the new group of canvassers, whose job it is to register voters, have been in Boston for a conference preparing them for the ‘new direction’ of their jobs.

On Friday, the group was notified that for the rest of the election, their unit would be working as part of MoveOn in registering voters when a video conference was set up with one of the leaders of the organization.  If you were in Boston on Saturday and Sunday when it wasn’t raining, you may have noticed the score of canvassers practicing. Interestingly, when someone does register, they have to be read a disclaimer that states that the person recruiting has no affiliation with any candidate or party.

The fact that the organizations are working together this closely is disappointing of the DNC and Senator Obama’s “New Politics”.  As the candidate claims to move away from “special interests” by receiving small donations from individuals, he and the party partner directly and even let the group control part of it’s Grassroots operations is worrying.  It would be hardpressed to say that an elected President Obama wouldn’t be beholden to MoveOn and similar organizations. Old politics a new way.

Aug
06

Oilgae?

With oil prices rising to new highs seemingly every week, the argument over renewables, and the favorite tagline of the moment - “Energy Independence”, the answer is within reach.  For golfers, fishermen, and pool owners, it is something you hate - algae.

Many species of algae, especially the blue-green variety, consists of over 50% oil. Of all plants that can be grown for oil, algae produces more gallons per acre than the rest combined! And this is without genetically modifying algae to produce the optimal amount.

Ethanol is proving to be a large waste of money and disappointingly raises food prices which hurts the poor people of the world even harder.  It has proven to be an inefficient source for biodiesel based on power, conversation energy, and yield while not answering the energy crisis.  Brazil has done a magnificent job with sugar cane for ethanol and turning it into a strong domestic fuel source and an international exporting business - except to the US.  This is because the United States has created a protectionist tariff that prices it out of the market here.  While the subject of free trade and agricultural products will be covered in another post, it is obvious the tariff is in the agrarian industry’s interest but not the average American consumer in regards to a cheaper, cleaner oil source and that is disappointing of both parties.  Especially with the new energy bill, but politics later, energy now.

A UNH study shows that using a small percentage of American farm land to build ‘race track’ style algae farms, the United States could not only produce all needed domestic oil, but would also create a valuable source of exports and ways for other countries to become energy independent instead of relying on other nations. (Note: It should be stated that while we always demonize Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Russia and energy mongers and a Cabal, Canada is our largest source of foreign oil.)

Taking the study’s conservative numbers of 10,000 gallons per acre of algae, the authors find that only 10 million acres would be needed. ONLY 10 million acres you say? While that sounds like a lot based on the sheer size, the reality is that it is a small portion of land currently used for agriculture and animal grazing in the US (over 1 billion acres!)  The investment into the project and creating all the needed oil wouldn’t be cheap - $300 billion.

Again, a large sum however if it was created over 10 years at 30 billion a year, not including the money recouped with each crop being sold, would be a drop in the federal budget and less than .2 perecent of farm land in the US, while the benefits would be monumental.

First, the federal deficit wouldn’t take as big of a sting each year with billions pouring overseas for oil. Also, we would be creating jobs here in the US boosting the economy both on the farms and in the refineries. Environmentally, it is a bonus because creating it domestic will lower the carbon footprint as will using a renewable source of energy.  Is it that simple?  No, but to say we can be energy independent on a renewable source of energy in 10 years is something our politicians should at least push to try instead of lavishing rich, agri-businesses with money and stifling foreign renewable energy from coming into this country.  Will the next President have the creativity and foresight to try something different?  For our sakes, let’s hope so.

Jul
24

Does Pet Ownership Contributute to Starvation?

Sudenese child during the 1994 Famine

Each day you see television commercials about feeding children in Africa and other underdeveloped regions for ‘less than a dollar a day’ or read an article about how many people live below the international poverty line which is also $1 a day. Most of us do care and feel bad about this however we rarely contribute and donate any money let alone take other action to remedy the situation. Interestingly, if you take the money spent on pet ownership just in America annually, you would be able to feed hundreds of millions of people worldwide each year.

We talk about ‘the Millennium Goals’ set forth by the United Nation and other organizations to reduce in half both the people living on less than $1 a day and those who suffer from extreme hunger. According to the World Bank, more than 1.2 billion people fit this description.

Pet ownership is more expensive than people typically think before getting a pet. It requires more than food but also medical visits, cage or fences, and other materials. According to the ASPCA(American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), the annual costs, expectedly, differ for the size of the dog. Cats, rabbits, hamsters and so on receive on set average per animal. For dogs, we will for the sake of discussion, average the three amounts which give us the following numbers of annual costs:

Dogs – $1131
Cats – $640
Rabbits – $885
Gerbils and Hamsters – $330
Guinea Pigs – $645
Fish - $185

Already we can see that the annual cost per Dog and Cat is more than the $1 a day goal. Even taking out the spaying cost and cage or carrier (one time fees), the annual expense are still over $900 for dogs and $535 for cats. Now let’s look at the estimated pet population in the US from the Humane Society of the United States:

Dogs – 73 million
Cats – 90 million

Not including the other animals, this adds up to $65.7 billion for dogs and $48.15 billion for cats a year! That is over $100 billion each year without even including rabbits, fish, and all other pets. Take this by the $1 a day goal and you realize that over 3 billion people could be helped. To put that in perspective that is nearly 3 times the World Bank estimate of people who live below the standard and 6 times the goal of the UN. And these are just the numbers for the United States.

Now, I do not want to advocate ending pet ownership and especially not making it illegal to own a pet. I merely feel people should take a look at these numbers and understand that before they go to buy their next pet, remember how much the pet will cost you each year and the good you could do. If people in the developed world merely limited themselves to one pet instead of two or more, this would still contribute an amazing amount of money, if donated, to the developing world and to feed the starving. Just food for thought…

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