Solar Subsidy Shines

On the upside, there's a happy solar lining to the deeply loathed and pricey bailout. The excellent news: domestic solar energy and green jobs will finally get a chance to go mainstream with the bill now extending federal investment tax credits for renewable energy providers, especially in solar energy development. Better late than never! Even though solar power currently represents not even 1% of the $3 trillion global energy market, industry professionals are saying that California is positioned to be both the world's next big solar market and its entrepreneurial center.

via Grist Muckraker:

"Congress last week passed long-awaited extensions to tax credits for solar, wind, geothermal, and other forms of clean energy; they were attached to the financial bailout package that President Bush signed last Friday. Renewable-energy companies let out a big sigh of relief, happy that months of delays and petty squabbles over the tax credits were over. The legislation also provides incentives for the development of oil shale, tar sands, and coal-to-liquid fuels, which environmentalists are less happy about. But overall, renewables advocates and enviros are delighted that Congress finally got the tax-credit extensions through, just before adjourning for election season. As for how happy they feel about the bailout package in general, well, that's another story."

Summing up the now global financial crisis.

via The Consumerist
via Blame it on the Voices

Speaking of "straight talk" Ms. Palin, how about you answer a damn question.

Via Daily Kos:
Yep, pretty much.
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Not falling flat on your face isn't exactly "success" either.
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Palin: Joe, Gwen, questions aside, let's just talk energy -- drill, baby drill!

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A sound bite that infuriated me during Palin's debate (among the many she robotically spewed): "Terrorists hate us for our freedom, for our rights and women's liberties"...I'm thinking, so do you, ms. Palin, so do you...

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Well, the bailout is officially official and the effect will definitely be a "known unknown".

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) via MoJo blog writes:

"No one will ever be able to prove that the Bailout Bill helped or hurt our economy during the coming fall and winter. Only two things are certain: the bill will provide hundreds of billions of dollars to investors who made bad decisions and Wall Street executives; and our children and grandchildren will now face a national debt that is hundreds of billions of dollars higher."

On the Money. Enough Bull!

Copyright 2008 Scott Stantis

Unlike McCain and Obama during the first highly anticipated but truthfully lackluster presidential debate (I did not learn anything new from either of them), these three actually hold solid opinions on the state of our collapsing economy, aren't afraid to tell the chaos and corporate socialism like it is, and voice passionate calls to action. Where's our plan b? Is there even a plan b (not a "tweaked" Paulson version)?

Senator Bernie Sanders spelled out the origins of our Wall Street meltdown early on, vehemently opposing the bailout and remarking, "any company that is too big to fail is too big to exist!"



isbanded visionary culture-jammers

Cartoons of the week

Be afraid, be very afraid.

Copyright 2008 Creators Syndicate

Copyright 2008 Creators Syndicate

No surprises here today, people

McCain wants to call off the first debate this Friday and suspend his campaign to put "country first" -- apparently, doing a couple things at once is all too much. Flaking out on his peeps is typical though, as "McCain has skipped more votes during this session than any member of the Senate except for Tim Johnson, who had major brain surgery." OBAMA is ON for debate, responding:

"This is the exact time when the American people need to hear from the person who in 40 days will be responsible for this mess," he said. "It is more important than ever to present ourselves to the American people."

Truth! Looking forward to Friday.

David Letterman couldn't have put McCain's excuses for calling time-out, even for his show yesterday, any better:

"You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves."..."I think someone's putting something in his metamucil."

"He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second string quarterback, Sara Palin. Where is she?"

"What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We've got a guy like that now!"

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During tonight's CBS Evening News, Katie Couric stumped Palin when asking for examples of McCain's regulations in his 26 years of Senate experience. The hokey Palin ever-so-eloquently responded she'll "try to find somethin' and bring 'em to ya" since she could not name a single instance where McCain was for a firmer government role in the economy. Oops, biffed again. Pure class:



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TARP, the Troubled Asset Relief Program, has the name for a reason...or maybe King Paulson subconsciously meant t - r - a - p. This $700 billion bailout may very well be covering-up the fine print for American tax payers. The issue of socializing debt and privitizing profits is hugely problematic and complex, but it's a powerpunch we simply can't afford to take. It will be interesting to see how quickly and clearly this proposal unfolds.

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And clearly, Clay Aiken is gay. But really, it's no one's business but his own and the media blitz surrounding his 'outing' like a major news flash is appalling. What are we all still so fascinated about and why are people in the limelight pressured to formally acknowledge and announce their sexuality to the world?

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