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Salon: Among the ruins of Henry Ford's America |
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Mike Collins for Colorado
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By MikeHost on
6/26/2009 5:56 PM
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I read a book on economics, can't remember the name, it talked of the fact that rubber was indigenous to South America, the only problem, they couldn't get the natives to work the plantations every day or even a good part of the day. Southeast Asia became the ideal location for the French to exploit Asian labor and the ideal growing conditions for rubber trees. They went so far as to distribute opium, at first for free, then to compensate for labor in the plantations. I won't buy a Michelin product to this day because of it. Part of the Vietnam war was fought for Michelin rubber as well as the rice growing capacity of the Mekong Delta, capable of feeding most of Asia. MC
Among the ruins of Henry Ford's America
In the 1920s t ...
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The Santicty of Marriage and the Hollywood Left |
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Mike Collins for Colorado
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By MikeHost on
6/25/2009 6:38 PM
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It is not hard for me to pile on people like Mark Sanford, John Edwards, Elliot Spitzer, John Ensign, David Vitter, et al. I am married and I HAVE a conscience and a moral compass. What is most disturbing is the moral outrage displayed by some of these righties to demonize gay and lesbian marriage all the while ignoring the moral depravity of supporting or ignoring poverty, war, human rights, torture and the suspension of habeas corpus, corporate and legislative malfeasance, inadequate health care, global warming, energy independence, labor rights and protections etc, etc.. MC
Mark Sanford:
"In dissent with the Republican Party of South Carolina, Sanford, whose faith is Episcopal, opposes the faith-based license plates his state offers, marketed largely to the state's conservative evangelical citizens. After allowing the law to pass without his signature, he wrote, "It is my personal view that the largest proclamation of one's ...
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Michael Jackson Perspective |
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Mike Collins for Colorado
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By MikeHost on
6/25/2009 6:36 PM
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One can only hope when former president Jimmy Carter dies, that saintly man will garner as much attention as Michael Jackson's passing. I suspect that he will NOT. It costs $69 a year to feed a starving child in Africa. In order to save five million children under the age of five from death by starvation, it would cost $345 million a year. That is .0006 percent of the US Defense budget. Michael Jackson made about $375 million over the last 15 years, assuming $25 million a year, I would think that he made more considering that at one time he owned all the music of the Beatles. Moral of the story? Two actually. No one gets out of here alive and we spend entirely too much money on blowing things and people up. MC
"Five million African children under age 5 died last year— 40 percent of deaths worldwide — and malnutrition was a major contributor to half of those deaths. Sub-Saharan children under 5 died not only at 22 times the rate of chi ...
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CBO: Climate Bill to Cost Average Consumer $175 a Year |
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Mike Collins for Colorado
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By MikeHost on
6/23/2009 3:04 PM
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That's a little less than $15 a month. And the funniest part of the controversy is Republican concern for ordinary Americans and the looming threat of American companies moving offshore. I say let the companies move and shine a very bright light on them, I can't think of a less patriotic action. As far as displacing industries to other parts of the country, it may be necessary in order to place manufacturers in areas where resources such as wind and solar are more abundant. MC
Climate Bill to Cost Average Consumer $175 a Year: CBO
By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Climate-change legislation would cost the average household $175 a year by 2020, according to the Congressional Budget Office, far below th ...
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Iranian Election Unrest |
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Mike Collins for Colorado
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By MikeHost on
6/22/2009 8:26 AM
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It's really too bad the economy, health care, education, the war, the environment, renewable energy, human rights, genocide, Congressional, corporate and Bush Administration malfeasance have received so little attention compared to the election unrest in Iran. I'm afraid we have lost the forth estate, the best and the brightest obviously took an early retirement or have been muffled by corporate and advertising masters. I have noticed for quite some time that advertisers for CNN and MSNBC tend to be Lockheed/Martin, Boeing, GE, Exxon/Mobile, etc.. Don't think they are getting editorial license?
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Obama's False Financial Reform by William Greider |
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Mike Collins for Colorado
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By MikeHost on
6/21/2009 2:04 PM
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Obama's False Financial Reform
June 19, 2009
The most disturbing thing about Barack Obama's call for financial reform was the way in which the president falsified our predicament. He tried to make it sound as though everyone was implicated in the financial breakdown and therefore no one was really to blame. "A culture of irresponsibility took root from Wall Street to Washington to Main Street," Obama explained. "And a ...
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Greatest Nation on Earth? |
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Mike Collins for Colorado
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By MikeHost on
6/21/2009 11:17 AM
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There are 51 million Americans living below the poverty line. As of July 24, 2009, the minimum wage will be increased to $7.25 an hour or $1160 a month, assuming a 40 hour work week. ($16,500 a month for a US Congressman) There was an op/ed by Hillary Clinton in the Washington Post this morning, Partnering in Trafficing, we are the absolute worst in the world for taking advantage of it's own citizens as well as those living in the shadows. The United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy lead us in the number of people
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Priced Out of the Market |
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Mike Collins for Colorado
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By MikeHost on
3/3/2008 12:48 PM
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The answer is algae with a 819 gallon per acre yield of biodiesel, needing just the space, sunlight and the water to grow algae. Another answer is get some people elected to congress that are smarter than a fence post. MC
NY Times
March 3, 2008
Editorial
Priced Out of the Market
The world’s food situation is bleak, and shortsighted policies in the United States and other wealthy countries — which are diverting crops to environmentally dubious biofuels — bear much of the blame.
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the price of wheat is more than 80 percent higher than a year ago, and corn prices are up by a quarter. Global cereal stocks have fallen to their lowest level since 1982.
As usual, the brunt is falling disproportionately on the poor. The F.A.O. estimates that the cereal import bill of the neediest countries will increase by a third for the second year in ...
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Need a New Tool Kit |
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Mike Collins for Colorado
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By MikeHost on
2/25/2008 4:58 PM
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The United States is attempting to repair the damage done in Iraq with the same hammer (the military) it used to destroy it. One needs to look no further than New Orleans to realize that the United States needs a new tool kit.
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| Mike Collins for Colorado Blog
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| Most recent blog entries
|
|
Salon: Among the ruins of Henry Ford's America |
|
Mike Collins for Colorado
|
By MikeHost on
6/26/2009 5:56 PM
|
|
|
|
I read a book on economics, can't remember the name, it talked of the fact that rubber was indigenous to South America, the only problem, they couldn't get the natives to work the plantations every day or even a good part of the day. Southeast Asia became the ideal location for the French to exploit Asian labor and the ideal growing conditions for rubber trees. They went so far as to distribute opium, at first for free, then to compensate for labor in the plantations. I won't buy a Michelin product to this day because of it. Part of the Vietnam war was fought for Michelin rubber as well as the rice growing capacity of the Mekong Delta, capable of feeding most of Asia. MC
Among the ruins of Henry Ford's America
In the 1920s t ...
|
|
|
|
|
More...
|
|
|
The Santicty of Marriage and the Hollywood Left |
|
Mike Collins for Colorado
|
By MikeHost on
6/25/2009 6:38 PM
|
|
|
|
It is not hard for me to pile on people like Mark Sanford, John Edwards, Elliot Spitzer, John Ensign, David Vitter, et al. I am married and I HAVE a conscience and a moral compass. What is most disturbing is the moral outrage displayed by some of these righties to demonize gay and lesbian marriage all the while ignoring the moral depravity of supporting or ignoring poverty, war, human rights, torture and the suspension of habeas corpus, corporate and legislative malfeasance, inadequate health care, global warming, energy independence, labor rights and protections etc, etc.. MC
Mark Sanford:
"In dissent with the Republican Party of South Carolina, Sanford, whose faith is Episcopal, opposes the faith-based license plates his state offers, marketed largely to the state's conservative evangelical citizens. After allowing the law to pass without his signature, he wrote, "It is my personal view that the largest proclamation of one's ...
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|
|
More...
|
|
|
Michael Jackson Perspective |
|
Mike Collins for Colorado
|
By MikeHost on
6/25/2009 6:36 PM
|
|
|
One can only hope when former president Jimmy Carter dies, that saintly man will garner as much attention as Michael Jackson's passing. I suspect that he will NOT. It costs $69 a year to feed a starving child in Africa. In order to save five million children under the age of five from death by starvation, it would cost $345 million a year. That is .0006 percent of the US Defense budget. Michael Jackson made about $375 million over the last 15 years, assuming $25 million a year, I would think that he made more considering that at one time he owned all the music of the Beatles. Moral of the story? Two actually. No one gets out of here alive and we spend entirely too much money on blowing things and people up. MC
"Five million African children under age 5 died last year— 40 percent of deaths worldwide — and malnutrition was a major contributor to half of those deaths. Sub-Saharan children under 5 died not only at 22 times the rate of chi ...
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More...
|
|
|
CBO: Climate Bill to Cost Average Consumer $175 a Year |
|
Mike Collins for Colorado
|
By MikeHost on
6/23/2009 3:04 PM
|
|
|
That's a little less than $15 a month. And the funniest part of the controversy is Republican concern for ordinary Americans and the looming threat of American companies moving offshore. I say let the companies move and shine a very bright light on them, I can't think of a less patriotic action. As far as displacing industries to other parts of the country, it may be necessary in order to place manufacturers in areas where resources such as wind and solar are more abundant. MC
Climate Bill to Cost Average Consumer $175 a Year: CBO
By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Climate-change legislation would cost the average household $175 a year by 2020, according to the Congressional Budget Office, far below th ...
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|
|
|
|
More...
|
|
|
Iranian Election Unrest |
|
Mike Collins for Colorado
|
By MikeHost on
6/22/2009 8:26 AM
|
|
|
|
It's really too bad the economy, health care, education, the war, the environment, renewable energy, human rights, genocide, Congressional, corporate and Bush Administration malfeasance have received so little attention compared to the election unrest in Iran. I'm afraid we have lost the forth estate, the best and the brightest obviously took an early retirement or have been muffled by corporate and advertising masters. I have noticed for quite some time that advertisers for CNN and MSNBC tend to be Lockheed/Martin, Boeing, GE, Exxon/Mobile, etc.. Don't think they are getting editorial license?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obama's False Financial Reform by William Greider |
|
Mike Collins for Colorado
|
By MikeHost on
6/21/2009 2:04 PM
|
|
|
Obama's False Financial Reform
June 19, 2009
The most disturbing thing about Barack Obama's call for financial reform was the way in which the president falsified our predicament. He tried to make it sound as though everyone was implicated in the financial breakdown and therefore no one was really to blame. "A culture of irresponsibility took root from Wall Street to Washington to Main Street," Obama explained. "And a ...
|
|
|
|
|
More...
|
|
|
Greatest Nation on Earth? |
|
Mike Collins for Colorado
|
By MikeHost on
6/21/2009 11:17 AM
|
|
|
There are 51 million Americans living below the poverty line. As of July 24, 2009, the minimum wage will be increased to $7.25 an hour or $1160 a month, assuming a 40 hour work week. ($16,500 a month for a US Congressman) There was an op/ed by Hillary Clinton in the Washington Post this morning, Partnering in Trafficing, we are the absolute worst in the world for taking advantage of it's own citizens as well as those living in the shadows. The United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy lead us in the number of people
|
|
|
|
|
More...
|
|
|
Priced Out of the Market |
|
Mike Collins for Colorado
|
By MikeHost on
3/3/2008 12:48 PM
|
|
|
The answer is algae with a 819 gallon per acre yield of biodiesel, needing just the space, sunlight and the water to grow algae. Another answer is get some people elected to congress that are smarter than a fence post. MC
NY Times
March 3, 2008
Editorial
Priced Out of the Market
The world’s food situation is bleak, and shortsighted policies in the United States and other wealthy countries — which are diverting crops to environmentally dubious biofuels — bear much of the blame.
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the price of wheat is more than 80 percent higher than a year ago, and corn prices are up by a quarter. Global cereal stocks have fallen to their lowest level since 1982.
As usual, the brunt is falling disproportionately on the poor. The F.A.O. estimates that the cereal import bill of the neediest countries will increase by a third for the second year in ...
|
|
|
|
|
More...
|
|
|
Need a New Tool Kit |
|
Mike Collins for Colorado
|
By MikeHost on
2/25/2008 4:58 PM
|
|
|
|
The United States is attempting to repair the damage done in Iraq with the same hammer (the military) it used to destroy it. One needs to look no further than New Orleans to realize that the United States needs a new tool kit.
|
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