Petey's Pipeline

Fossil-fuel Dependency is a Slippery Slope Lubricated by Gushing Oil

2010-08-07T14:37:00.000-07:00

The following comes to us courtesy of Barbara O’Brien (of Mahablog fame), who clearly has an excellent grasp of many issues related to the Gulf Oil Blowout. Thank you, Barbara, for sharing your insights. What You Need to Know About the Gulf Oil Disaster Every day, news about the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico gets worse. This week we learned that a large section of the Gulf could

The Case for Marijuana Legalization: Food & Medicine*

2009-01-13T10:50:00.000-08:00

Research conducted between 1966 and 1976, by American and Canadian universities—some 10,000 studies in all—proved unequivocally that cannabis has well defined medicinal properties. Of the handful of studies (about a dozen) that failed to return a positive finding of medicinal benefits, none could be replicated in subsequent studies using the same test criteria. Indeed, cannabis was one of the

How Much is Enough?

2008-12-24T12:16:00.000-08:00

Here’s a couple of interesting items, which I shamelessly lifted from the Too Much Web site. Perhaps you’ll find them interesting, too. Stat of the Week: How could U.S. income inequality be undone? Larry Summers, Barack Obama's pick to lead the National Economic Council, has worked out the math. If every top 1 percent household — average income: $1.7 million — wrote a check for $800,000,

Bailout Blues

2008-12-09T10:59:00.000-08:00

Congress did right by denying $25 billion in bailout money to U.S. automakers unless they presented rescue plans detailing how the money would be spent. (Too bad lawmakers didn’t hold Wall Street to the same high standards before approving $700 billion to shore up financial institutions that were finally experiencing the consequences of their own unethical practices and rampant greed.)

Bold Career Move

2008-11-07T16:38:00.000-08:00

As a political candidate, Sarah Palin bombed. But she comported herself admirably on SNL, and that leads me to believe that she could begin a successful new career in show business. After apprenticing as Tina Fey’s stunt double, she could segue into the title role in The Tina Fey Story. From there, she could transition into a daytime soap opera about a lunatic bitch with political aspirations,

About Last Night

2008-11-05T11:48:00.000-08:00

The long nightmare is almost over. Last night, the Obama juggernaut blew the doors off the Straight Talk Express. No surprise there; it was obvious to anyone who was paying attention that the wheels had come off that bus long before it ever left the depot. Last night, Senator Barack Obama became President-elect of the United States of America. Last night, Senator John McCain delivered

Election Selection

2008-11-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

Color played a big role in who I voted for in this election. No, it’s not what you think. Let me explain. Not race nor skin color nor ethnicity had a part in helping me decide which candidates to vote for. The contenders could all be purple with orange polka-dots and green racing stripes for all I care. The important thing for a candidate to earn my vote is to share my ideals and represent my

Random Thoughts on Candidates McCain and Palin

2008-10-31T14:29:00.000-07:00

It was obvious on SNL that Tina Fey does Sarah Palin better than Sarah Palin. When Palin does Palin, it comes across as an imperfect imitation of Tina Fey imitating Sarah Palin; Tina Fey owns Sarah Palin.* * *At this point I’m thinking that it’s probably no mere coincidence that the only difference between “Palin” and “Pain” is the presence or absence of the letter “l.” Nor is there a high

Tempting Fate

2008-09-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

"Even if an asteroid were to blot out New Orleans today, a giant squid were to topple the Golden Gate Bridge tomorrow, and fire ants were to kill every human on Fire Island by the end of Thursday, the biggest story of the week would still be McCain's cockeyed selection of Palin." —Jack Shafer Hey, I get it! You supported Hillary, and when she didn’t get the nomination, it really pissed you

Shocking Choice by John McCain

2008-08-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON-- Senator John McCain just announced his choice for running mate: Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. To follow is a statement by Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.“Senator McCain’s choice for a running mate is beyond belief. By choosing Sarah Palin, McCain has clearly made a decision to continue the Bush legacy of destructive environmental policies

A Modest Proposal

2008-08-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

Whenever the government deems a large corporation too important to the national interest to be allowed to fail, it invariably rides to the rescue on truckloads of taxpayer’s money. It’s the government’s way of rewarding corporate ineptitude, malfeasance and greed. But a government-assisted bailout for private businesses is bad policy, and government should not engage in providing financial

No Laughing Matter

2008-07-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

This sounds so outrageous, it seems like a joke or something out of "The Onion."Attorney General Michael Mukasey is demanding that Congress issue a new declaration of war so that anyone that this president or the next one declares to be an "enemy combatant" can be held indefinitely without a trial.The new declaration of war would make the entire globe — including the United States itself — a “

Ye Gods, We Hardly Knew Ye

2008-06-24T15:26:00.000-07:00

The forum discussion following an article on AlterNet a few days ago got me to thinking about science and technology and how we humans show a marked tendency to abuse them. In particular, our overreliance on technology to solve all our problems puts us in the same moral category as the drug-addicted; the mindset (if a little bit is good, more is better) is exactly the same. When we don’t get the

And the Winner is . . .

2008-06-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

Prior to writing and publishing Petey’s Pipeline Blog, I wrote and published Petey’s Pipeline E-zine. The “articles” section of the e-zine, Random Ramblings & Miscellaneous Musings, was the precursor—the prototype, if you will—of Petey’s Pipeline Blog. And, as some—but not all—of you know, Petey is the personification of the acronym PT, which stands for Perfect Text, the name of my Web site.

MSM MIA

2008-06-12T18:38:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else notice the curious lack of coverage of Dennis Kucinich’s Articles of Impeachment against President Bush, on Monday, in the mainstream media? Nothing on network news broadcasts on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday; nothing in The Oregonian on those days, either. Finally, on Thursday, The Oregonian saw fit to devote slightly less than eight column-inches to the subject below the fold on

Healthy Choices

2008-05-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

Hillary Clinton has a national healthcare plan. Barack Obama has a healthcare plan, too, although his is somewhat less comprehensive than Hillary’s. John McCain has no plan, save for one to keep the U.S. Military engaged in Middle East affairs for as long as it takes to defeat global terrorism—a mammoth undertaking with a high probability of failure, given the climate of violence arising out of

Of Tangled Webs and Weaving

2008-05-15T16:35:00.000-07:00

Even though Hillary’s campaign seems to be losing momentum, might in fact be dead, it refuses to grind to a dead stop. Hillary bravely soldiers on, much to the delight of dwindling numbers of supporters—and GOP members made ecstatic by the continuing divide within the Democratic Party. At this point, by remaining in the race she does the party more harm than good. Frankly, I can’t understand

The Salmon and the Sea Lion

2008-05-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

It’s always gratifying to engage an expert in debate about subjects of interest to me and discover that what I think I know is not all that far removed from scientific reality. Such was the case on the afternoon of this Sunday past when I cornered my neighbor, who just happens to be a fish biologist, and solicited his educated opinion on the long-term prospects for Pacific Northwest salmon. Hint:

Taxing Ideas

2008-05-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

In a recent TV campaign ad, Steve Novick, one of several Oregon Democrats vying for Republican Gordon Smith’s U.S. Senate seat, says that even millionaires should have 100% of their earnings subjected to Social Security tax. He’s exactly right. If having 100% of earnings subject to S.S. tax is good enough for those making less than $97,500 a year, it’s good enough for those who make more than

Sensing the Census, Circa 2050

2008-04-28T16:40:00.000-07:00

6.7 to 9.2. Billion. The difference between these two numbers is the projected global population increase between now and 2050. I’ve seen these same figures (or close approximations) mindlessly repeated on a plethora of popular blogs and Web sites, but no one seems to be questioning the validity of this false premise. Sure, in theory the global population could increase by roughly 45-50% over

Out, Damned Incumbent!

2008-04-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night’s televised debate between the three leading Democratic candidates for Oregon’s contested US. Senate seat was both highly informative and surprisingly civil. The candidates, Candy Neville, Steve Novick, and Jeff Merkley, comported themselves well, were uniformly polite, articulate, well informed, and passionate about changing the status quo on a number of issues important to

Stuck on Stupid?

2008-04-14T16:28:00.000-07:00

KATU News broke the story last week; evidently, Oregon DHS is at it again. Having failed in their half-witted attempt to deport Gabriel Allred, they’re now trying to deport 2-year-old Faith Cephus to Mexico, to live with people she doesn’t know and who are not related to her. Well, that’s only partly true. Faith would be living with a couple of half-siblings. It’s the people who would be adopting

Starve the Bitch

2008-04-10T18:02:00.000-07:00

This just in from MoveOn.org confirms what many of us suspected from the very beginning of Bush’s Folly—that those who perpetrated this insane invasion and potentially endless occupation of Iraq haven’t a clue as to what they’re talking about. Nor do they seem to know what they’re doing. Warmongers lied their way (and the rest of us) into a U.S. war against Iraq; every few months they

Allred Update

2008-04-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

Okay, now it’s official. Gabriel Justice Brandt, formerly known as Gabriel Allred, whom I wrote about in December of last year, is now the legally adopted son of Steve and Angela Brandt. While that in itself is good news, even better news is that young Gabe won’t be setting any precedents as the first U.S. citizen to be deported to a foreign country by overreaching DHS staffers. As a

Wake Up, People!

2008-04-04T16:42:00.000-07:00

“The Judds worship money. They make it a stand-in for all the other qualities of life. If you can be nice, or have money, take the money. If you can be brave, or have money, take the money. If you can have friends or have money, take the money. They’re like that. They don’t even hide it. Take the money.” —Excerpted from Dark of the Moon, by John Sandford There’s something inherently wrong