Philip S Wenz’s Recent Comments

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  Plant Your Live Christmas Tree in Winter

  The ground might be frozen in Canada in the winter, but there are a of places in the Continental 48 where it's warm enough to plant you Christmas tree in the middle of winter -- and it will do fine. Most conifers are well adapted to cold weather.  Spring isn't a good time to plan most conifers -- the hot, dry weather will be upon the poor plant before it has time to set roots.  

  I've had Christmas with a tree, and without.  Both are fine.  But if you must by a tree, get a live one.On On organic Christmas trees posted 1 year, 11 months ago 20 Responses

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  wiscidea's #s 5 & 6

  Wiscidea,

  I agree with your first three points in your post above, but not your last two. What makes Hillary's people "the best and the brightest?' Are they that way because they are part of the traditional Democratic machinery?

  But more importantly, you wrote: " Progressive ideas have to be properly packaged for the average voter."

  What makes you think any of Hillary's ideas are progressive?  She wants to keep the war going until at least 2013, her health insurance programs do nothing to change the fact that the insurance companies are ripping off the American public, or change the fact their underlying agenda is not health, but profit, she gave Bush and Co. leeway to invade Iran, she's all for the expansion of "free trade," and the list goes on.  As I said in an earlier post, she's a good transactional politician -- she can get her agenda through.

  What's so great about that?

  Philip S. Wenz, Editor, Ecotecture.com

  On Reflections on Grist's presidential forum on climate change posted 1 year, 11 months ago 62 Responses

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  Grist for Humor

  Well, well, well.  Grist does respond to its readers after all.  And they do a hell of a lot better job of that than our Democratic Congress has done of stopping the war -- by not bringing the funding bills to the floor, and winning with 41 votes in the Senate -- or impeaching the Goon Squad.

  I 'bout cracked up when I came to the site just now and there was Kucinich on the home page, big and smilin'.  

  But, really, Gristers, what about the other candidates?  I mean, three candidates graced your conference -- why not give Clinton and Edwards fair billing with a photo on the home page?

    Are you guys just caving in to that tiny minority of  unrealistic anti-corporate nut cases that take a few minutes to hassle you?  For Shame!

  Philip S. Wenz, Editor, Ecotecture.com

  On Reflections on Grist's presidential forum on climate change posted 1 year, 11 months ago 62 Responses

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  Dave,

  I might have been a little rough on you, and I aplogize, but I'm quite concerned about the way things are going down, within the "green" movement as well as, of course, in the mainstream.  Realistically, you are probably right, Kucinich won't become President.  But I don't think that has anything to do with his program. I think it has to do with the fact that he's a threat to corporations. Therefore his transformative ideas are "unrealistic."

  You know as well as I do that said corporations control the media -- to a great extent ARE the media -- and they decided that Kucinich wasn't going to be President some time ago.  Look at the way CNN and the other networks have handled the so called Presidential debates.  The top-tier candidates get most of  the questions and air time, and when one of the not-so-top people starts to make an important point they are cut off. (Mike Grovel, for example, answered a question about the price of oil by talking about the true price of oil, which includes defending supply lines to the Middle East, and TIME UP! before he got though his first sentence.) Hillary, on the other hand, has been on the front cover of Fortune.  She's the Great Corporate Hope.  Cozy.

  The night before Grist's event, I read that it would be different than CNN's silliness.  It was -- it was far more in depth and better.  However, seeing only the annointed on your home page immediately got my hackels up.

  My point is that Kucinich won't be President because the powers that be decided he won't be President.  On a level playing field, his ideas are at least as valid as the other candidates', and he probably would stand as good a chance as anyone of being President.

  The issue for you personally, Grist and the movement in general is whether they (we) are going to continue to be "realistic," in hopes of getting a few crumbs from corporate schill politicians or go with their true hearts, minds and souls in the hopes of moving society in the direction it needs to go (transactional vs. transformational politics).   If we allow the corporations to continue to pick the Bushes and Clintons (remember SHAFTA?) who are beholden to them, the non-change in our country's direction is pretty well assured.  

  So I think Kucinich counts, but only if we stand up and count him.

  I wasn't there to measure the relative as*holiness of the Code Pink person, but I'll take your word for it.  And a good point about her disturbing the audience.

  But again, who from Grist's selected panel asked any of the candidates how they saw the war connecting to the environment, or pointed out that we can't begin to address our environmental problems until we get out of Iraq -- in 2013 according to Hillary and the other realistic, top-tier candidates.  

  Contadictions, alas, have a way of resolving themselves.  Gimme Shelter.

  Philip S. Wenz, Editor, Ecotecture.com

  On Reflections on Grist's presidential forum on climate change posted 1 year, 11 months ago 62 Responses

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  On Bias, Hippies and Organic Merlot

  I'm with wiscidea and malfunctiongirl and some of the other commenters who have criticized Mr. Robert's and, by extension, Grist's obvious bias.  

  First, why are Edwards and Clinton shown in all their glory on the home page and Kucinich given a little 125 x 125 pixel head shot in the story? (Literally, the second-tier page in web-design parlance.)  Maybe Grist has learned that attractive, top-tier people grab the reader's attention, increase the clicks and, untimately please the advertisers or the people that count in the funding organizations?  

  Only three candidates bothered to show up for your conference -- why not give them all equal billing?

  Second, there is the dissing of Kucinich's program and ideas. Somone described Hillary as a transactional politician, in contrast to a transformative politician.  Hillary knows how to make deals and get some of what she wants. But a leader, with verve and vision, can move the entire populace in a new and positive direction.  (Witness both Roosevelts and JFK.) Hillary won't do that. She'll be pragmatic.

  Kucinich, and, to a lesser extent, Edwards, has a truly transformative vision for America. I should think if Mr. Roberts and Grist want real change, and not just more carbon credit swapping (also known as enrichment of the powers-that-be), they would put their weight behind his ideas. The growing environmental crisis is a big deal, and it will take big, transformative ideas to deal with it, not tweaking and deal making with corporations that already have way too much power.

  Finally, your comments on the Code Pink woman were a real disgrace. Sorry she embarrassed your high-falutin guest. She wasn't at all polite -- but, then again, neither is war.

  (Hillary's response was, "Were you asked to speak here today?"  Translation, "I'm somebody, and you're annoying opposition to the war makes you nobody, so sit down and shut up. Better, let's have the police drag you out."

  The heckler wanted to know how Ms. Clinton could justify supporting the war -- through 2013, mind you -- and still call herself an environmentalist.  Good question, and obviously not one that was going to be asked by any of the panelists.  It makes one wonder why there was even a live audience at the event.  To provide applause?

  While Grist is making the big time -- hobnobbing with the New York Times, Hillary Clinton, the Foundations and the organic Merlot drinkers -- I guess it will be up to the visionary dreamers and noisy onanists to try to make the connection between ending the war and saving the environment.  

  Philip S. Wenz, Editor, Ecotecture.com

  On Reflections on Grist's presidential forum on climate change posted 1 year, 11 months ago 62 Responses