JohnH’s Recent Comments

• Click here to view comment in original post

  We should speak up about this now...

  It's long past time to spend the tax dollars we now pour down the military industrial complex rathole, but better late than never.  Converting it to a public works infrastructure would at least assure that the output would be something we all could use (a smart grid, solar arrays, wind farms, a transportation infrastructure that can run on electricity, etc.).

  I do wonder if even now we have the political will to do it.  Many people owe their jobs to the complex but I believe many of them would gladly trade those jobs for others like the above.  The status quo is clearly a death spiral for US manufacturing, in which the only industry left will be the weapons industry.  

  And then there are the jabailos of the world who refuse to see the possibility that Ivan's recent cold war-like threats might be a reaction to our behavior in placing cold war relic missile defense systems in eastern Europe.  Maybe we should put our sword down first, and see how the Russians react to that.On Cut defense spending in favor of clean-energy investing posted 11 months, 4 weeks ago 5 Responses

• Click here to view comment in original post

  Obama's speech

  I liked a lot of what I heard in the speech, but I agree with Veritone that several of the alernateive energy initiatives are decidedly not in the direction I want to go.  But let's not let the perfect be the enemy of the good - let's get him elected and keep pushing for the best solutions wherever we can.  

  I was glad to hear this:

  "But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease."

  Tough diplomacy is still a give and take process.  The first things we should consider giving on are the missile defense systems we have pledged to install in eastern Europe (Poland, Czech Republic, etc.).  These are no more than Cold War relics looking for a new lease on life to keep the cash flowing and maintain the military industrial complex as the main source of high wage jobs in many congressional districts.  What a surprise that Putin and company don't buy our story about placing these systems to protect Europe from the Iranians.  

  At some point in this process I would like to hear Obama (or somebody, anybody) make the connection between the green economy we all yearn for and the absolutely necessary and way overdue extreme downsizing of the military-industrial complex.  The subject is probably way too controversial for the campaign, but after he's in office...

  And it wouldn't hurt to write to your senators and congressmen/congresswomen on the subject now! On Obama calls out climate and energy in his big acceptance speech posted 1 year, 2 months ago 16 Responses

• Click here to view comment in original post

  Violence at the G8 protest not the only story

  There are echoes of the WTO protests in Seattle in 1999.  For a moment back then I felt hopeful that there were more people becoming fed up with the economic system we have created and the bad effects it has on our environment and our lives.  But the media focused on the violence and the anarchy, and the more important message that our society needs to change its ways seemed to be lost.  

  September 11, 2001 and the subsequent, invevitable unleashing of the military machine we've never stopped building (even in the absence of legitimate enemies) drowned out most of the remaining voices for change in America for a few years.  But now the folly of believing that military might is the tool we should use to bring peace to the rest of the world has become obvious to most people again.  

  Here's hoping that the moment is right for those voices to find their audience.  Maybe this time we can find a way to get off of the insane treadmill that led us here for good.  America budgeted nearly $500 billion for "defense" this year not counting what we're spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Surely we could have a more than adequate defense for a fifth of that,or less.  I wonder what we could do with all of the money we could save and all of the brain power we could redirect to peaceful, useful projects.On Reflections from the scene of this weekend's G8 protests posted 2 years, 5 months ago 5 Responses