100-plus former Obama workers to protest tar sands pipeline at White House

[kpete]

Source: Raw Story

Former staffers and volunteers who have worked under President Barack Obama will "lead more than 100 people in civil disobedience at the White House" Thursday in an the ongoing protest against the Keystone XL pipeline, according to a release from the group.

Courtney Height, a former youth voting director for Obama for America and current Energy Action Committee staffer, is among those who will protest and risk arrest.

"Young people mobilized in record numbers in 2008 to elect a leader they believed would fulfill his promise,” Height said in a prepared statement. “Tomorrow I'm sitting-in with hundreds of other young people to call on President Obama to fulfill his promise and stand up to Big Oil. He must reject the Keystone XL pipeline; his legacy relies on it."

The pipeline would transport 50,000 barrels of crude oil daily from Canada to Texas' Gulf Coast region. U.S. Energy Secretary David Chu suggested Wednesday that the pipeline would likely be approved. The State Department also gave the nod to the $7 billion project and said that it would have limited environmental impact

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/09/01/100-plus-former-obama-workers-to-protest-tar-sands-pipeline-at-white-house/

[William769]

1. Does D.C. jail have enough beds

Or will they have to make makeshift jails?

[humbled_opinion]

101. There's always GITMO..... n/t

[adhd_what_huh]

2. I protest their protest because we've got bigger problems!

[harvey007]

7. The biggest problem we face is our addiction to fossil fuels

And that's why this protest is so important.

Our economy and our environment can't be restored if we continue down the fossil fuel path.

Obama has failed to lead on the energy issue. Instead he wants more deepwater oil drilling, more pipelines, more fracking, more nuclear power plants, and endless war to gain control of Middle Eastern oil fields.

This is wrong-headed and should be protested.

Thank you to all those participating in this battle!

[Scruffy1]

10. There is no more important issue.

If we don't have air and water how can we do anything. When your house is on fire you put it out instead of worrying about the decor. The earth is on fire as we speak.
And of course the energy monopoly is what we are really up against. "Conservative values" really means oil and coal whore. The Koch family would have control of much of this filthy product.

[pasto76]

14. what is your carbon footprint? how much petroleum do you consume?

are you really walking the walk? Im a 2nd generation union ironworker. I went and fought the fucking war in iraq. I drive a small japanese car with good mileage - which the union guys love, until I explain that I want to use as little oil as I possibly can. What kind of car do you drive? how often do you walk or bike instead of drive? Is your computer, smartphone and iPad made from peanut oil plastics?

How much can ONE MAN, even if he is the president, do against this country's DEMAND for oil? Do you know it took over a year of record gas prices for consumption to drop even 2% back in 2008?

I support the ideals. I want a clean planet. I want renewable energy. I can only do so much. Until this entire society buys into giving up oil (which I propose is a larger environmental and security hazard than coal) who can really say anything?

This country also needs jobs. President Obama might not get re-elected with this unemployment. Place your bets now, in 2013 Justice Roberts will either swear in president Obama, or President-Elect Republican. There will be no alternative democratic candidate. And how much movement towards clean energy will there be with a president wholly owned by the aforementioned Koch brothers?

[jwirr]

19. In this case President Obama may be just one man but he has the

veto over this project. And he has the bully pulpit to tell the people why he did it. That would be two wins for the environment. I doubt he will do it though. He has shown little interest in changing our fossil fuel addiction.

[JDPriestly]

21. We developed the atomic bomb during WWII, won that war and changed the world.

We CAN become energy independent without using the tar sands if we invest in the research and infrastructure to do it.

I personally remember the housing shortage following WWII. Americans simply decided to change a terrible situation. Building on the structure that FDR had started to build to encourage home ownership, Americans became home owners. And many of the houses were bought as frames and finished by the future homeowners.

All that unity and pride and American can-do spirit that built our industry and our economy has been destroyed by the greed of the banks in recent years. We are reduced to squabbling and fighting over scraps. And why -- to shore up the mighty dollar so that oil remains cheap.

Jobs are hard to find because of imports, and we have to import third-world junk primarily because we have to prevent inflation of the dollar or see the cost of oil go through the roof.

Keeping the cost of oil down -- by keeping inflation low -- has become more important to the Fed than maintaining high employment.

Just how much the oil that pipeline is being constructed to carry will help lower the cost of oil is highly questionable because the cost of extracting the oil flowing through it will be much higher than the cost of oil that is just obtained by drilling holes in the ground. So on top of immeasurable damage to a major source of water and destruction of the land surrounding the shale, the oil will be very expensive.

The whole project is a big waste -- of the environment, but more important of our human and financial resources.

The environmental concerns are not just touchy-feely, useless theories. In the end, they have to do with whether our earth can tolerate as many humans as are now trying to grub a living from it. Here in the US, most of our current problems boil down to our dependency on oil. End our dependency on oil and we can become self-sufficient, creative and get back to work so that everyone can live modestly but well.

[girl gone mad]

25. Well said.

[chervilant]

29. Well, now...

We humans are manifesting a level of mental dis-ease that is both frightening and corrosive. Far too many of us are in react mode, driven by inchoate fears and resentments. Far too many of us are willing to pollute our spirits with negativity, eagerly engaging in name-calling, blaming, road rage, and other forms of vilification. Far too many of us are willing to glorify violence or resort to violence, often just for entertainment or personal gratification. Why, d'ya think?

We seldom acknowledge the import of overpopulation, but Calhoun's research with rats has proven that when a critical level of overpopulation occurs, the outcome isn't pretty. With rats, abnormal sexual behavior, hyper-aggression, devouring newborns, and increased mortality are a few of the problems that occurred. In Calhoun's experiment, the eventual result was the total annihilation of the rat population. With humans, well...isn't it past time we acknowledge that our species has passed a critical tipping point?

When I was younger (and naive) I thought our species was in its adolescence--obsessed with sex, drugs, and all other forms of self-gratification, especially as regards our economic behaviors. Now, in my twilight years, I've come to believe that overpopulation is a macro-level manifestation of our species' hedonism. Regardless of how much energy we devote to denying the ravages of overpopulation, they are writ large by our increasingly sophisticated, increasingly corrosive socio-cultural and technological constructs--the very same constructs we use to remain in denial, and to externalize responsibility for our collective hubris.

Bearing this in mind, I feel overwhelmed with disappointment about the choices we (as a collective) have been making, because we seem to be moving inexorably back into 'balance' on a planetary scale. When it's time for Gaia to roll over and scrape us off her backside, the inevitable consequences of our hedonistic overpopulation and denial of personal responsibility promise to be extreme.

[JDPriestly]

43. Overpopulation is a huge problem.

[No Elephants]

76. And the far religous right is preaching about unlimited kids per couple.

They want to out-vote and overpower us, one way or another.

[FarCenter]

35. How do you propose to end our oil dependency?

Without oil, the enconomy enters a sharp downturn.

Please describe how much investments in what technologies over what time frame would end our oil dependency. I'd like to see a plan and a price tag. Current US oil consumption is about 14 million barrels per day.

Note that all of the easy to drill and produce oil in the US has already been drilled and produced. The Canadian tar sands are about as cheap as it gets for new supplies outside of the Middle East.

[JDPriestly]

42. Well, first, you don't ask so many questions.

You just start with what you have, like manufacturing and installing insulation in the walls and attics of houses, solar energy panels and collectors on houses and other buildings in the Southwest US and building windmills.

We already have electric cars. The prototypes just have to be bought and used. Apply more engineers to think of ideas to make the cars less expensive.

And maybe, once you stop asking questions and put people to work doing these things, you will find that we need less and less oil, less and less coal and less and less nuclear energy. We will discover new ways to make energy go further as we go along.

It's simply problem solving. You don't know all the answers when you start out. You don't even expect that.

You set a goal. You see an undefined way in front of you. You start out and you cross the hurdles you meet as you go along. You don't let things stop you.

That is how we can win this technological game.

We will always need some oil. That's why we should not be using it so fast. That is why we need to find alternatives as fast as we can.

It took decades for us to become as addicted to oil as we are. It will take time to get off it. But we need to put more energy into our steps as we set off on this path.

You never know all the answers when you start something new.

[FarCenter]

44. That is optimism (unwarranted) and not a plan

The analyses that I've seen run into two problems:

1. we run out of physical resources like critical materials, room, etc before alternative energy systems scale to the level needed to replace a significant fraction of hydrocarbons, and

2. we run out of money to pay for the investment before alternative energy systems can be completed.

Examples of the first are things like running out of lithium for batteries, rare earths for magnets, tellurium for solar cels, space for wind and solar farms, fertilizer for biofuel farming, etc.

As for the second, some countries may be able to invest, but the US is pretty much broke. It is the biggest debtor nation in the world.

What you propose is perhaps the right approach, but it only works in a future where the population is significantly reduced and where the standard of living is also substantially reduced.

That is not a platform that any politician can win on.

[JDPriestly]

46. Neither was WWII, and we were broke then too.

We won't need such a huge military if we become energy independent.

So, in WWII, they didn't have any rubber -- and they needed it, so substitutes were invented.

We can be just as inventive today.

I am not being overly optimistic. I just know that we can master this problem. It is technological, and mastering technological problems is what we are good at.

The big problem is a spiritual and social one - the ones you are presenting -- the unrealistic need of people for certainty.

Many a plan has gone awry because it was too detailed and therefore too rigid.

We know where we want to go. We know where to take our first steps. We will handle problems as they arise. That is how the creative life is lived. That is why a lot of big corporations are not really very creative -- because the accountants with tiny minds start running them.

Do you have a plan for getting the oil out of the shale without ruining the environment, without ruining an aquifer -- a source of water for millions of people?

If not, stop criticizing others for their rather fluid plans.

The pipeline is a huge waste of money. If we have so little money, the last things we should spend it on are a pipeline which will transport foreign oil through our country to foreign countries.

If we spend the money on the pipeline, we will not have that money to spend on installing solar panels and putting insulation in houses -- projects that will win us energy independence and save money in the long run.

The pipeline is a ridiculous waste.

And have you noticed how many pipelines have leaked recently? I believe there have been a couple in the midwest and one in Alaska. There are probably many more small ones we will never hear about.

Overpopulation is the basic problem. But oddly when the living standard in a country declines, the population tends to go up.

[defendandprotect]

66. Hope beats fear -- but meanwhile, not moving on is death -- !!!

Not only for ourselves but for animal life --

and we also need to close down the nuclear power plants --

could make the difference between "a whimper and a bang" -- !!

[defendandprotect]

67. PS: ... we're only "broke" because elites are keeping us broke ... with wars, tax cuts for rich --

by paying CEO's 500X workers salaries and by keeping the Minimum wage on

the lower than poverty level!!


How much more of all of that do you want to enjoy?

Also keep in mind Global Warming is breathing down our necks -- we are now

about to feel the effects of human activity on the planet from 1960 onward!




:nuke:

[No Elephants]

79. I wonder who paid for the analyses you've seen. Besides, oil is not an endless resource, either.

We need better solutions that destroying our sources of food and water in a stupidly self-destructive, never ending and doomed quest for oil, let alone "cheap" oil.

A DU profile has to show only the date you signed up and the actual number of your posts. I don't understand why DUers feel a need to keep that kind of information hidden.

[chervilant]

105. hmm...

Do you get a sense of that person's likely 'profile,' given the nickname, the naysaying and the dangling participle?

[No Elephants]

114. I didn't see his dangling participle.

(but I love it when you talk dirty.)

[chervilant]

104. hmm...

"That is not a platform that any politician can win on."

Have you considered that our nation's political process is obsolete?

Our species is now experiencing exponential change, yet we cling tenaciously (and fearfully) to that which we know, not that which we can imagine.

I bear in mind the following adjuration:

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over and over...expecting different results.

[Enthusiast]

54. We could reduce world energy consumption

by manufacturing consumer goods locally rather than shipping them across vast oceans.

[No Elephants]

80. So many ways. Carter started us out on the path, but then oil prices went down and Reagan

tore apart everything Carter tried to do and corrupted the mission of the Department of Energy that Carter and a Democratic Congress had created.

One of many dumb shitty things St. Ronnie did--and both Hillary and Obama, our two leading primary contenders last time around, put him on their list of ten greatest Presidents ever.

[Enthusiast]

92. I'm sorry to disavow them of that notion

but St. Ronnie's greatest attributes were as an actor. And that ain't no compliment.

[No Elephants]

115. To think, the man headed the screen actors' union. McCarthy spooked him.

[defendandprotect]

65. Wind, solar -- solar batteries for cars -- even Saudi Arabia is moving to alternative energy...!!

[No Elephants]

83. Their engineers told them almost 40 years ago that their oil would run out in forty years.

I met one of the engineers who told them.

He moved from the Middle East to Canada in 1997. Now, there's a man who plans ahead.

Okay, so the engineers may have been off by a few years and not accounting for the kind of deep and offshore drilling we can do now, but you take my point.

[No Elephants]

77. "Cheap: has to stop being the overriding issue, esp. when it the cost to life as we know it is

at risk.

When did "cheap" ever prevent oil companies from making massive profits?

[No Elephants]

78. How do you propose to create drinking water and breathable air?

See, two can play that game. Where does it get us, though?

We pay people to do things like that as a day job and give them massive budgets for experts and the like. Plus, they can usually get people to donate expertise.

The fact that someone who posts on a message board in spare time can't come up with a solution to massive problems means less than nothing. It's just a very cheap message board ploy.

[rhett o rick]

95. I think you are misinformed. There are thousands of wells drilled and capped in the US, just waiting

for higher prices. We need to nationalize those wells immediately. Stop giving the oil companies tax payers subsidies. Tax the hell out of gas and oil sales. Many of us are fooled thinking we are only paying $4 a gallon for gas. But if you figure that we give the oil companies billions in subsidies and tax breaks, we are really paying way more. Stop the subsidies and tax breaks.

We are in crisis. Time for action. The Revolution is WAiting. Choose a side.

[chervilant]

106. + a gazillion plus 50 million times infinity!

Indeed, we are in a *SEVERE* and immediate crisis. I suspect that many who supported Obama thought he would be the kind of leader we would need in this time of crisis. But, does such an individual even exist?

Since the El Toro Poo Poo is hitting the proverbial fan exponentially, many *MORE* of us need to be the change we hope to see in this world.

[rhett o rick]

118. Here's my distorted view. Those that control the country have us by the neck.

Pres Obama cant, even if he wanted to.

[Enthusiast]

53. Nice!

Thank you.

[No Elephants]

75. +1 (Adding Kennedy and the "man on the moon in the next decade" speech)

[No Elephants]

74. The same Koch brothers who donated to the DLC and set up the Tea Party?

They've been playing both sides of the fence to promote Republican "ideals"--and, on both sides, finding playmates.

Maybe in one more generation, we'll be back to a one Party system, as we had originally.

We really need to think of ways to stop that.

[No Elephants]

84. Would you have made that impassioned argument about a plan like this if Bush were still POTUS?

[Flora]

94. Japanese Car

Really, the union guys love you japanese car? My, things have changed. When I married my Boilermaker husband 12 years ago, I owned a Nissan Sentra. One day when he was having trouble with his Chevy truck, I suggested he take my car to the plant for work. He laughed and said that the Nissan wouldn't still be in one piece at the end of the day sitting in a union parking lot!

[jwirr]

18. Agreed. If in hanging onto the past lifestyle we destroy the world we

are living in then we will have no alternatives when oil depletion and climate change really come to a head. If we do not start living with reality the other problems we have now will look like a Sunday School picnic.

[chervilant]

26. + a gazillion! Indeed!!!!

I said a BIG woooooooooo - hoooooooooooooo!!! when I read the title of this OP.

(On this and many other issues, Mr. Obama is a HUGE disappointment...)

[Altoid_Cyclist]

30. That pretty much nails it.

The one addition that I might throw in there is MTR mining.

If people doubt that stopping these practices is important, they need look no further than the Appalachia region. We still have a lot of waterways and forest area that have never recovered from the King Coal days. Now, just as progress is being made on cleaning up the damage from coal, we have MTR mining destroying more mountains and waterways. This area (PA) is being decimated by the fracking industry and renewed coal mining activities.

This is what too many locations in PA still look like even after years and years of acid mine drainage remediation activities.


More here: http://www.amrclearinghouse.org/Sub/photogallery/

We also have the aesthetic charms of fracking: All that it needs is Mel Gibson


Lots more here: http://www.donnan.com/Marcellus-Gas_Hickory.htm

As you said: Thanks to all of the people protesting these industries.

[defendandprotect]

68. +1 -- but I would say ... forced addiction to fossil fuels --

Certainly we could have nationalized oil and all of our natural resources

decades ago --

Leaving them in the hands of private interests was vastly harmful --

Additionally, no oil/no war -- so oil becomes a national security issue as we

saw playing out in the environmental destruction of BP's "spill" while Obama

waited ever so patiently for months before there was any resolution ---

a pitiful one at that.




:hi:

[No Elephants]

73. Let's not fight over what the biggest problem is, but this is a huge one.

Bought and paid for politicians, and just plain stupid ones, that allowed things to get to this stage are a pretty big problem, too, IMO.

So is an electorate that is uninformed, easily brainwashed, apathetic and doesn't really want to get up off its behind, except for trips to the john and fridge,

[The Wielding Truth]

103. Absolutely! Can we go cold turkey though? Must we ween off nonrenewables ?

[fasttense]

12. You wont be around to protest anything if this earth can no longer support mankind.

Bigger Problems???? What bigger problem can we possibly have than a dying planet?

[JDPriestly]

15. What do you think is a bigger problem than keeping our earth

livable?

[joeybee12]

17. No. We. Don't.

[chervilant]

23. Really?!

ANY activism at this point is essential. The vast majority of the hoi polloi MUST wake up and do whatever it takes to change the outcome of five decades of unfettered hedonism.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[texshelters]

28. If there are bigger problems, why not list them

instead of stating something without examples?

Are you incapable? I don't disagree, but your comment is lazy and worthless as stated.

Peace,
Tex Shelters

[totodeinhere]

31. We should be able to concentrate on more than one problem at a time. And this

is a big problem which could result in an environmental catastrophe. I support the demonstrators.

[me b zola]

33. "Bigger problems"

Like dealing with all of the crisis' caused by global climate change?

[SammyWinstonJack]

36. Bigger problems then 'game over' for the climate? Because if this pipeline is built

that will be the result. :shrug:

[MrMickeysMom]

41. None of your problems will matter because of THIS one...

If you had unlivable conditions fit for human sustainability or the economy down the shitter.... I mean, what would the choice be?

Yes, it's that simple. We are destroying this earth, and the science backs it up... it has for a good long while.

[rhett o rick]

47. You provoked about 20 responses and yet you dont debate. Looks like a thread hijack to me. nm

[Lorien]

50. Could be another hit and run

Kochroach.

[rhett o rick]

55. I love "kochroach". I would use it but I think I have them all on ignore now.

I just couldnt keep myself from going ape shit on their asses.

I prefer to call it "crap and run".

[Lorien]

49. Sorry, but that statement is insane. Nothing is more important than having a healthy

planet-or in this case, not rapidly destroying our dying planet! If we can't breathe (and destroying every source of oxygen is a very real possibility right now) no other issues will matter.

[rhett o rick]

56. Also, we need to start fighting back over every issue where they are pushing us around. nm

[No Elephants]

82. And fight to elect people who don't even try to push us in the wrong direction on very many issues.

[H2O Man]

59. not

[_ed_]

60. What could possibly be more important than our climate?

.

[No Elephants]

72. Name four.

[Duppers]

93. I protest your comment as being very uninformed

What planet are you going to live on when this one is wrecked?

[SpiralHawk]

3. the k

and the r

[Le Taz Hot]

4. At some point, that HAS to hit home

with Obama. Seriously.

[russspeakeasy]

52. Don't hold your breath...

:evilfrown: he doesn't appear to be paying attention...

[No Elephants]

81. How much will you bet? (I'll even re-open my Paypal account, which I closed over wikileaks, just to

collect. Then I'll close it again.)

BTW, I don't usually bet anything, even a penny, even on a sure thing. But, the economy's bad, so I'll put my home on this one.

[OnyxCollie]

5. They never loved him!

Haters!

[No Elephants]

85. Loved him? I never even met him. However, I did donate more than I could afford.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

6. Godspeed --

thank you all for doing this! :hug:

[Gari]

8. Imagine

if Al Gore would participate and get arrested. The irony of Al Gore in handcuffs and Cheney walking around free.

[Hawkowl]

9. No ponies for them!

It's a good think 86% of liberal democrats support Obama and the base is willing to get out and work their tails off for him! :sarcasm:

[Scruffy1]

11. Funny, I've never been polled. n/t.

[No Elephants]

86. I've been polled by a national pollster ONCE. I live in a very blue city.

Purely coincidental, I'm sure.

[Overseas]

13. Many thanks to them! The oil would not even go to us.

The oil that would go through these dangerous pipelines, that we're supposed to believe would be safe after having seen ample evidence to the contrary,
is multinational oil.

We are supposed to host the extensive damage it will inflict and then go out and bid on that oil like any other customer.

And give back any revenue that oil might generate from the multinational oil companies by subsidizing them for doing more and more reckless projects to dig up more oil for the world market.

[SammyWinstonJack]

38. This! Paying attention lurking FReeps? You okay with being LIED too, yet again?

:thumbsup:

[Overseas]

51. Here's more information about that oil going for export

http://www.nationofchange.org/exporting-energy-security-keystone-xl-exposed-1314892904

In pushing for the Obama Administration’s approval of TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, the North American oil industry and its political patrons argue that the pipeline is necessary for American energy security and its construction will help wean America of dependence on Mideast oil. But a closer look at the new realities of the global oil market and at the companies who will profit from the pipeline reveals a completely different story: Keystone XL will not lessen U.S. dependence on foreign oil, but rather transport Canadian oil to American refineries for export to overseas markets.

A new report from Oil Change International lays out the case, based on data and documents from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the Canadian National Energy Board, corporate disclosures to regulators and investors, and analysis of the rapidly shifting oil market.

The facts:

Keystone XL is an export pipeline. The Port Arthur, Texas, refiners at the end of its route are focused on expanding exports to Europe, and Latin America. Much of the fuel refined from the pipeline’s heavy crude oil will never reach U.S. drivers’ tanks.

Valero, the key customer for crude oil from Keystone XL, has explicitly detailed an export strategy to its investors. Because Valero’s Port Arthur refinery is in a Foreign Trade Zone, the company can carry out its strategy tax-free.

[saras]

57. The part I don't understand....

... is why, when we have this information, we here at DU need to spend so much time and energy battling the STUPID LIE that this oil is somehow going to benefit America and Americans. We have the data, the debate is over.

[DeSwiss]

61. Here's why.....

Because in the Corporate States of America, corporations are people too.




- Specialer people than you and me......

''Now they're coming for your Social Security money. They want your fucking retirement money. They want it back! So they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street. And you know something, they'll get it. They'll get it all from you sooner or later, because they own this fucking place. It's a big club -- and you ain't in it! You and I are not in the big club.'' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJeFrqBJF6E">George Carlin - ''They're coming for your Social Security''

[newspeak]

113. and the repugs tell the clueless masses that we must be

oil independent while giving away the bank. Because the oil does go on the world market while we pick up the tab for any devastating consequences. We are part of the ecosystem, but some want to think we are separate. We destroy the food chain, contaminate fresh water and air, how can anything live?

Maybe those who wreak destruction think that after they make their billions they can go underground like the morlocks they are.

[No Elephants]

87. Seems as though some folk on Democrat message boards are okay with this.

Things are getting pretty bad in the real world. We need to get rid of our old paradigms.

Or maybe go back to our even older paradigms. By that, I mean, back when John D. Rockefeller was a hero to some and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fried a lot of workers, we knew the divide was between working class and owner/investor class.

[Divernan]

96. It's not the Freeps, it's the lovesick, third way, used to be Democrats

There's no lie, no betrayal by Obama that will "turn them away from their man."

Their prince never came along in real-life and now they have OCD over Obama.

[chervilant]

107. So true...

If we (as in, the ENTIRE hoi polloi) don't get a clue soon--AND ACT ON IT--we might as well assume the position, permanently.

[Eyerish]

16. K&R

[Rainbowreflect]

20. Hell, even our idiot Republican Governor is not against this...

http://journalstar.com/news/local/article_49eeb3fd-b4f1-5e79-99ae-aea09c7757ab.html

[No Elephants]

88. Please see Reply # 87.

[placton]

22. I hope some better writer than I writes

letters from the DC jail, in the style of Letters from the Birmingham Jail by MLK

http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

[No Elephants]

89. I don't mean this for you, but hoping someone else has this is what got us where we are.

As I said, that is not for you, so please don't take it personally. For all I know, you're the biggest activist in the U.S.

But, too many of don't want to do anything besides post and talk, which are about the same thing.

[trud]

27. water pipeline

If the government wants to do something useful, it should build a water pipeline to take water from states with an excess to states in drought conditions in the middle of the country, esp. farm states. That would also be a nice jobs project.

[SammyWinstonJack]

39. Oh hey now, where is the profit in that?

:evilgrin

[Dont call me Shirley]

32. I wish I could be there! My health has deteriorated because of all the pollution

from the oil industry and it's evil spawn, the chemical industry.

CALL THE WHITEHOUSE TO PROTEST! FLOOD THE WH WITH CALLS OF PASSION AGAINST THIS ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMINAL ATROCITY!
201-456-1111 be patient, keep redialing and stay on hold, they'll answer and listen.

[Bozita]

34. Wishin' I coulda replied with a bigger ...

[Broderick]

37. If we just progressively outlaw all personal transportation beyond bikes

and increase public transportation in myriad ways, not only will we have jobs growth but perhaps we can save the planet. We need to evolve as a species and put to rest our love of the automobile. Phase them out over 10 years, except for cabs, buses, trains, and perhaps planes.

[myrna minx]

40. K&R n/t

[goforit]

45. Chu/Obama have made a pac with the Devil

[rhett o rick]

48. There is nothing more important than hitting them hard at each outrage.

The Revolution Is Waiting.

[Odin2005]

58. This is what happens when you stab us in the back, Mr. President.

[Tx4obama]

70. How the hell did he stab you in the back when he hasn't even weighed in about the pipeline yet? n/t

[Divernan]

109. What is your position on the pipeline?

[DeSwiss]

62. K&R

"....create jobs building solar panels and wind turbines and the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow. Jobs that will help us end our dependence on foreign oil and may save the planet in the process. Rebuilding our crumbling roads and schools and bridges...." "....so we can have a new electricity grid and bring renewable energy to population centers here in Indiana and across America. Build an American infrastructure for the 21st century." - Barack Obama, 2008

Excerpted from: http://vimeo.com/20355767">"Lifting the Veil: Obama and the Failure of Capitalist Democracy"

- When are we starting this again? Next term? Right.....






http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/09/01/solar_company_that_got_federal_loan_shuts_down/">US-backed solar firm files bankruptcy

[WillyT]

63. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

:bounce:

:hi:

:kick:

[defendandprotect]

64. Another 100 volunteers who won't be there in 2012 -- !!

[Tx4obama]

69. The last I heard President Obama has NOT even said anything yet about the pipeline....

has he?

[No Elephants]

90. Is that your only concern about the pipeline?

[Name removed]

102. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tx4obama]

71. This is ridiculous. They are protesting Obama for something he has NOT even took a position on. LOL

n/t

[No Elephants]

91. What's wrong with demonstrating BEFORE the President hangs out publicly on an issue?

They are not saying he has taken the wrong position. They are saying he must take the correct one.

From the OP.

“Tomorrow I'm sitting-in with hundreds of other young people to call on President Obama to fulfill his promise and stand up to Big Oil. He must reject the Keystone XL pipeline; his legacy relies on it."


Ridiculous, my ass.

I'm grateful to them for supporting a good decision on his part about something of this importance before he takes a public stand. Aren't you?

[Divernan]

98. Here's a song going out to all you die hard Obama supporters.

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/m/mary_wells/my_guy.html

Nothing you could say
Can tear me away from my guy
Nothing you could do
'Cause I'm stuck like glue to my guy

I'm stickin' to my guy
Like a stamp to a letter
Like the birds of a feather
We stick together
I'm tellin' you from the start
I can't be torn apart from my guy

Nothing you can do
Could make me untrue to my guy

I gave my guy my word of honor
To be faithful and I'm gonna

As a matter of opinion I think he's tops
My opinion is he's the cream of the crop
As a matter of taste to be exact
He's my ideal as a matter of fact

There's not a man today
Who could take me away from my guy
____________________________________________________

We all understand that's how you feel and that NOTHING Obama could possibly do would cause you to alter your total support of him. You will always respond to devastating facts of his presidential actions or failures to act with your hollow LOLs.

[AllyCat]

100. Uh...article says Sec of Energy stating this will be approved? Where did he get that idea

if not from the POTUS and his corporate masters?

[chervilant]

110. Geez...

"They are protesting Obama for something about which he has NOT taken a position."

(BTW, that's a rather specious assertion, since the protest is meant to encourage Mr. Obama to come out AGAINST the pipeline...)

[EFerrari]

112. 166 people arrested today so far. n/t

[Doctor_J]

97. They just want ponies

:eyes:

[chervilant]

108. With

rainbows spewing out their butts...

[No Elephants]

116. Well, ponies and a planet that sustains human life.

[AllyCat]

99. "Limited Environmental Impact" right up until they start trashing the bread basket

to build it? And then even more devastation when it LEAKS? These people are right to protest. Heroes for risking their necks for all of us.

[chervilant]

111. Well, now...

I read Rachel Carson's Silent Spring when I was 12. When I finished Carson's iconic treatise, I made two fundamental decisions: 1) I would not bear children, and 2) I would be an activist for the rest of my life. I am thankful that I've achieved both these goals, considering our species' imminent ecocide.

During my 55 years on this planet, I've witnessed:

~heavy metal pollution of virtually all of our groundwater

~inexplicable declines in honeybee populations

~nutritional deficiencies in almost every fruit or vegetable harvested since the 70s

~vast swaths of soil erosion and silt runoff

~measurable declines in the quality and flavor of most produce

~GLOBAL monopolies on seed stocks, and genetically modified foods

~cross contamination of vegetable foodstuffs from cattle and dairy operations

~inhumane treatment of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, calves, chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks

~Bhopal

~Chernobyl

~Fukushima

~oil spills in the Gulf (and, apparently, an irreparable fissure now leaking even more oil)

~the nationwide existence of 'Superfund Sites' that are so toxic, massive amounts of our tax dollars have been allocated to 'clean up' these abandoned, hazardous areas (visit Superfund websites and you'll find "Superfund for Kids!")

~destruction of the planet's rain forests (actually, widespread deforestation)

~global climate change, resulting in extreme weather conditions worldwide

~a pile of floating garbage--in surface area, twice the size of the state of Texas--in the doldrums of the Pacific Ocean (and another similar carpet of plastic in the Atlantic...)

~a measurable decline in the amount of food fish we pull out of our oceans and lakes (with toxic levels of mercury in tuna and other large fish)

~an exponential increase in obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other diseases directly linked to the consumption of refined sugars (let's not even BEGIN to discuss hydrogenated oils...)

~a growing percentage (almost half) of functionally illiterate (thus, easily manipulated) adults in the US

~a now ubiquitous 'message delivery system' (television) that has turned a significant number of humans into distracted, misinformed zombies

~a dangerous economic system that concentrates the wealth of this planet into the hands of a VERY few at the expense of the VERY many

~destructive, endless 'wars' based on lies and profitability (don't get me started about Depleted Uranium)

~a radical shift to exponential growth (read 'change') that few recognize and even fewer discuss.

Sigh...

We are like a plague of locusts on this planet, fouling the air, water, and land while destroying entire ecosystems. AND, in these exponential times, the catastrophic economic 'transformation' we're witnessing in our global economy promises to inflict challenges we have yet to envision.

Did you know that a third of US students surveyed do not expect to live into their old age? (In case you don't remember, for teenagers thirty is old age...)

The 'whining' Obama and his sycophants denigrate is actually the justifiable grumbling of the hoi polloi, as more of us awaken to the reality of the jack boots of the uber wealthy clamping down across our necks. These vile corporatists are daily increasing their stranglehold on our lives and our livelihoods. Do they expect us to go quietly into their dark night?!

Our species has reached critical mass. The decisions we make RIGHT NOW will determine whether we continue to evolve into the erudite, peaceful and creative beings we KNOW we can become; or devolve into the ignorant, aggressive, and fearful beings we vociferously deny being now and in much of our past.

At this unavoidable fork in our evolutionary path, which way do YOU think we'll go?

[No Elephants]

117. I didn't see 3 mile island on your list.

As far as whining, there's substantively criticizing Obama's policies and then there's complaining and/or attacking people because they are criticizing Obama's policies.

I'll leave it to you to decide which is whining. Me, I want to call a WAAAAmbulance sometimes.