Twentysomething

Sad day for America

Today Bush went through with his promise to veto the stem cell research bill which passed the house and senate. Though he's cleary appealing to his base, I think is perhaps one of the worst decisions he's ever made.

China is blowing through stem cell research and our very own president is attempting to stifle it's growth. It sure seems we are headed in the wrong direction. I hope this changes some peoples ideas and provides a voice to rally together in the elections to come.

The "climate crisis"

Floyd Mckay had a great article recently in the Seattle Times on global warming and Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. It hits right on the money:

"Americans, despite our massive power, can really only speak for and act for ourselves. But since we are the world's leading consumer market and the world's major polluter as well, any progress here would be of international benefit.

I'd suggest we start by making Al Gore's slide-show movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," required viewing in every high school in the country."

Gas Gas Gas

Gas prices are at the highest level yet, pushing up to $3.00 for the national average. Government officials are calling it the "gas crisis" and I understand why, though I doubt things are as catastrophic as they would have you believe.

Europe's gas prices were around $6.00 a gallon when I visited France last year. There was no chaos on the streets, highways still had a ton of traffic - life went on. It's hard to believe that chaos will occur on our streets either, I laughed at the news report last night that a young man had stolen a lady's purse, attributing it to unaffordable gas prices.

What can we do ? This administration doesn't seem to be doing much. So it comes down to the state level. California seems to leading the way, with the Governator investing in bio diesel and other forms of alternate energy.

I imagine that some entrepreneur is going to find "it", whether it be biodiesel or otherwise, and that his/her invention will change the automotive field forever. That seems unlikely for another while though, and in the meantime we need to deal with this "crisis".

There's a lot of money headed to biodiesel here in Seattle, and that may be the way to go. But until we have a lot of support from the federal government and auto manufacturers, the situation will progress at a snail's pace.

Some things are certain: SUV's definitely seem headed on the way out. This weekend, a Suburban commercial proclaimed it to be the vehicle for the large family. It seems that the idea of a $60+ fillup doesn't appeal to mass markets anymore. GM, who has based much of it's success on the SUV/Truck market, is for a major shakeup as gas prices move up in the next 3 years.

I am frustrated at the pace in which things are moving here. Over in China, as the country begins mass vehicular adoption, the government has decided to skip gasoline altogether and look into alternate energy as it's prime energy source. It's time for us to do the same, even if it's in a gradual manner.

We need a third party

It sure seems that America could benefit from a third party right about now. I don't think that I'm the only one that agrees in a liberal social agenda and conservative fiscal policy. So what gives ?

The more important question seems to be not what, but who gives, and there is only one answer that seems to matter in this case: lobbyist. Everyone knows you need money to run a campaign, and lobbyist seem to know this better than anyone.This fact allows them to have a foothold on American politics.

While I am am a fan of free markets, a line needs to be drawn at the government level. It seems that the theory of government intervention in business has been reversed, leading to business's intervention in politics. This fact is amplified each day, with the Abramoff scandal confirming what many of us already suspected.

So what does this mean for our political party system ? Well, for one, funding a third party that could put up a decent fight against either the Dem's or Republicans is nearly impossible. Many level headed politicians agree that the lobbyist effort needs to stop, opting instead for an unpopular view that campaigns need to be funded by the people.

I firmly believe that campaign reforms pushed in this direction will clear the way for new ideas and parties to emerge, which will strengthen our country economically and ethically. At the present time, this is not a popular campaign issue and those in power don't seem to want things to change. It seems that as a people, we are waiting for another Enron or an Abramoff scandal of greater proportions. In order to progress, I think it is our duty as citizens to push for this kind of reform.

Death over cartoons ?

Though I'm not in the shoes of Muslims in Europe, I think this is ridiculous. People have killed and died over religion for thousands of years, but over cartoons ? I'm not a fan of the religious right in this country, but I don't see them killing people over cartoons making fun of Jesus.

I do agree it didn't really help the already tense situation present in Europe. I think that by rioting and killing people however, those Muslims are further enforcing a negative stereotype for the rest of the Muslim world and really are not helping accomplish anything.

My friend who tends to think in extremes thinks World War III is coming. I don't see things as nearly that grim quite yet. I do however feel that Muslims in Europe need to start negociating via political means for a more equal system. Protests are not a bad idea, burning cars and killing people is.

France and America - A Shame in Common

Throughout the past two months, I've seen this displayed through various manners.

Racism has been brewing in France for years. In my recent visit last year, I witnessed the seperation of race in the "banlieu", and heard many stories from my cousin about the situation in France. Apparently, a majority of France's population IS racist and racism is openly talked about concerning France's largely Algerian born population.

This is in sharp contrast to America's bottled up racism, which finally boiled up to the surface following the events of Hurricane Katrina. Though I was not naive to believe that racism was completely dead in America, I was suprised that it was as prevalent as it is.

Tom Evslin has a great blog that dives into the issue deeper.