More on Cape Wind: It's Important

A golden opportunity exists for Massachusetts to stand up and collectively say, "Global Warming is a problem, that's why we're doing something about it." Massachusetts could have not one, but two large wind projects. We could have two sources of renewable energy that collectively produces 720 megawatts of electricity. That would power far more than just Cape Cod.

If these projects pass, developers will realize wind projects in America can be profitable. Soon coal could be replaced by wind in areas of the country where solar power isn't feasible. Soon, pollution from our energy production can be reduced to almost nil. Soon, we can reverse the course of Global Warming.

Let's be honest with ourselves here: the world is dying. Just because people can't see it doesn't mean it isn't happening. However, the evidence is clear.

Global Warming is more important than any other issue. It speaks to the destruction of the planet. It's more important than equality in marriage, more important than taxes, health insurance, education and jobs. It's even more important than nuclear proliferation. Where nuclear proliferation has the potential to do great damage to the planet, Global Warming is already well on its way to destroying it. Just 20-30 years ago, mountains that once were frozen year round are now thawed. Ice Caps have been melted in half. Hurricanes are getting worse and worse, to the point that they're destroying American cities.

There's no time to resist projects that are proven as environmentally sound and effective in producing clean, renewable energy. Support Cape Wind and the Dartmouth project. People from Cape Cod can't view this new project as an alternative: it isn't. Cape Cod needs to do its part in defeating Global Warming and the South Coast does too. Let's build one on the North Shore, let's build one in Western Mass. Massachusetts should be scattered with smaller wind mills too.

I hope, someday soon, that Massachusetts will have dozens of renewable energy projects. We can be a beacon of hope for the entire world if we want. The question is: Do we care about the future? Do we care about our children? Do we care about the realities of Global Warming?

Cape Wind 2: Will My Theory Be Proven Correct?

A second wind project has just been proposed to be built off the coast of Dartmouth and Fairhaven, in Buzzard's Bay.

In a proposal that would dramatically change the appearance of Buzzards Bay, a Boston developer wants to build a $750 million offshore wind farm comprised of 90 to 120 turbines in the ecologically sensitive waterway.

The proposed sites are about 3 to 4 miles off the coast of Sconticut Neck in Fairhaven, Barneys Joy in Dartmouth and Naushon Island, one of the Elizabeth Islands. An estimated 30 to 40 turbines would be erected at each of the three sites.

First, I'd like to know just how "dramatic" the appearance of the bay will change. With the Cape Wind project, it's reportedly a thumb-print. I'd imagine that, with these windmills 3-4 miles out to sea, the effect to the horizon shouldn't be much different - in which case, I'd fully support it.

More importantly, in supporting Cape Wind on my website for all these months, I've frequently made this assertion: Senator Kennedy and the special interests trying to block Cape Wind wouldn't care if it were being built off the coast of Gloucester or New Bedford. Well, now it's being built just a town over from New Bedford in Dartmouth and Fairhaven.

So I guess we get to learn something new about all these politicians who claim to support renewable energy, but are against Cape Wind. Will their positions remain consistent? Will they become hypocrites? I don't understand how they could be for one and against the other, so my biggest fear is they won't want to be inconsistent and both projects will be killed. However, it's still my firm suspicion that if we just had this new project and Cape Wind never existed, it would fly through. Time shall tell.

For all my readers out there, I'd like to see this Cape Wind 2 project vetted and tested just like Cape Wind 1 was... hopefully they'll both be cool projects and we can become leaders in the world using wind energy to power a significant portion of the state. Both projects would combine for 720 megawatts... which is awe-inspiring.

Perhaps we should force every politician to see Al Gore's new movie on Global Warming. That should make 'em think twice about rejecting our nation's best hope to get off the ticking time bomb coal and oil.

Update: I said this in the comments, but I think it's so important, that I need to add it in my blog. Here's a message for people who don't support Cape Wind:

The world is dying. We need to make sacrifices. People need to do their part in all of this too. We don't have time for other proposals, we need real solutions now, even if they aren't ideal or seem unfair.

Update #2:
I've already read comments that confirm what I've been saying all along. People from Cape Cod are okay with wind farms, so long as they're not on Cape Cod. Sorry, folks, that's just too damn bad. We all must make sacrifices. Earth is dying. If it'll help, I welcome a windmill on Egg Rock!

We all must make sacrifices. The new project off Dartmouth and Fairhaven shouldn't be viewed as an alternative or a saving grace for Cape Cod. First, I have news for all you Cape Codders... you won't find a more beautiful ocean view than Dartmouth, Mass. I should know, I go to school here. Cape Cod isn't special, it doesn't deserve to be spared anymore than anywhere else. Secondly, the more wind power in Massachusetts, the better. That's how we'll make an example for the world to emulate and become a leader in the industry.

Kerry's Belated Response to Me:

A while ago (at least a month, if not longer) I questioned Senator Kerry on his stance on the censure resolution. Well, his office must have been a little slow, but I got a nice response that - for once - I'm pretty happy with.

Here's a snippet:

I believe this Administration has consistently acted in unacceptable ways and know that Americans feel the same way. ThePresident broke the law by authorizing a secret domestic wiretapping program and he has reserved the right to ignore laws in the future by issuing controversial statements when signing Congressional legislation. Members of Congress should use our constitutional powers of checks and balances to examine the activities of the Executive and hold the President accountable for his actions.

Many people have criticized Senator Feingold's censure resolution as a partisan tactic. They say that the Senate needs time to further investigate, and that calling forcensure now is an attempt to score some political points. I do not agree. A censure resolution that expresses strong disapproval with the President's actions will send astrong message to the President that he is not above the law. That is why I support the censure resolution.

It's nice to know he's finally growing a little backbone.

UPDATE: Note to readers: by saying I'm glad he's finally growing a little backbone, I am not referring to his Vietnam War record. That is neither here nor there: this is a discussion of his political backbone and, for the past 3-4 years, he's lacked one on votes that were of the most importance, such as the resolution authorizing this President to invade Iraq. Perhaps I should not blame Kerry for his political mistakes and instead the political insiders who advised him, but he's the one who chose to hire them and bow down to the Democratic Party.

The Simple Truth on the Tax-Rollback

If Massachusetts rolls back taxes .3%, here's what will happen:

Either you'll live in a town that'll pass a proposition 2 1/2 Override and your taxes will skyrocket,

Or you'll live in a city or town that will reject the Prop 2 1/2.

Teachers, cops, firemen and other town employees will be laid off. Libraries will be closed, hours will be reduced and programs will suffer. Everyone will have to start paying more fees for trash collecting and ambulance services, which are often covered by property taxes right now (but can be separated without a prop 2 1/2).

Either, or... you lose. Deval Patrick understands. Vote for him.

I Made My First BMG Diary

I'm sure almost all of my readers frequently visit Blue Mass Group. I don't think I'd be hurting any feelings if I said they're probably the most popular political blog devoted to Massachusetts politics, regardless of one's political orientation. I frequently comment there, but have always left the blogging to this blog, Daily Kos diaries, Progress Now (the blog I've been abusing for a solid month now, poor thing... was doing so well too, just don't have the time to keep up two blogs) and (sadly) a Myspace profile which shall remain linkless (for my petty 22 year old self's musings).

However, I felt it was the time to write a diary on Blue Mass Group because I've been noticing a particularly bad trend on that website. It seems as if there are more and more people who - and I'm not trying to sound like a conspiracy theorist - are closely involved in political campaigns, yet don't reveal their status. Any fool who spends 30 seconds on my website should be able to figure out I'm a solid Deval Patrick supporter - and the level of my support is detailed in my description and elsewhere. I wish more people would follow suit with my openness.

I don't know why it bothers me. 90% of the people who read websites like BMG aren't going to be fooled by clearly biased diaries, especially diaries that don't even make sense (like suggesting Deval Patrick waited for 10 inches of rain to drop on the North Shore to reveal a political non-issue). However, it bothers me nonetheless. I've called individual diarists and commenters on their bias before, but I've never seen one say "yes, I work for Deval Patrick, I'm an intern in his office who is devoted to keeping abreast of the news" or "no, I don't work for Tom Reilly, but I've donated $500 and my son is interning with him for the summer" or "no, I don't work for Chris Gabrieli, I just drank the kool-aid and am waiting for the space ship to take me away."

People love being anonymous, but why should I trust them as much? Why should I care as much about what they're saying? I'm not saying people shouldn't be anonymous, it's one of the best aspects of the internet, but I am saying the burden is on them. If they say something outrageous, they damn well better back it up - with lots of links to sources I can trust.

I like to joke that I drank the kool-aid for Deval Patrick. However, in reality, it's no more than a joke. Even after I became involved in his campaign in a small way, I still have refused to allow it to interfere with my writing. In fact, I just recently called for him to step down from Ameriquest (before he actually did).

I'm not the type of person who would shut up about something I believe in because I was volunteering or supporting that candidate. If being a blogger interferes with my role in supporting Deval Patrick and his campaign tells me to censore myself, I'll stop being a part of his campaign - and hold no bitterness about it. I probably wouldn't even stop supporting him because, at some level, I'd agree with him.

I find that being a supporter actually gives me more the reason to speak up: intelligent people are more likely to listen to their supporters than detractors on policy issues because, at least in politics, a candidate gets no where without support. Just look at President Bush and his devotion to the right-wing Evangelicals. Bush's approval rating can be at 29%, but if all the Evangelicals vote, he'll still win at least half the time.

In any event, read my diary. I'm probably too tired to make any sense at this point, especially on a philosophical issue that deals with the changing tides of the internet and blogosphere, so I best stop now. Let's here what you all think about anonymity and bloggers (or any other issues I've rambled touched on via comments.

My Prayers Are Answered: Deval Resigned from Ameriquest!

In a recent blog, I publically called for Deval Patrick to step down from his Ameriquest Board position. Today, when I checked my email, my prayers were answered! He's leaving Ameriquest.

Mass Revolution Now posts the entire email I read and says it's an example of Deval Patrick being a leader. Talking Politics says it's a political victory for Reilly.

People can call it whatever they want, but from a campaign supporter of Deval Patrick, here's what I think. He heard the call by supporters to step down, and answered them. He answered my calls when I said this:

I think you've served that company with the best intentions, helping clean up its bad ways. However, they're gutting jobs in Massachusetts - and what better way to support Bay State jobs than refusing to be a part of a company practicing a very bad Massachusetts trend of cutting jobs here? Don't profit from a company that would do Bay State citizens harm.

And I mean every word of it. By stepping down, Patrick takes away the one broken-record attack Tom Reilly continually made: Deval worked for a bad company. It didn't matter that Deval helped clean up that company, Tom Reilly is a well-practiced politician. He saw an opening and continually took it. Now that opening is gone.

Deval didn't elaborate on why he left Ameriquest. In the email, he talked about his work with them. He talked about their layoffs in Massachusetts. However, he never said "this is why I'm leaving Ameriquest."

I can only deduce he left because his supporters were calling for him to leave. He didn't use any populist trickery when leaving - like I suggested - claiming he couldn't support a company willing to cut even more Massachusetts jobs. For better or worse, he's too good for that.

In the end, I'll have to side against Talk Politics: Deval did show leadership. Sometimes, Governor's have to make tough decisions that voters won't support. However, other times they have to do the opposite and make goofy decisions that shouldn't matter.

How Does it Show Leadership?

It reminds me of when I was a class officer in high school: the Swampscott High Class of 2002 wanted a prom in Boston; the Class President and other officers wanted something a little more realistic. I agreed with the other officers: a prom nearby made more sense and would cost less. However, in the end I told them we should do what the people who elected us wanted in such a petty matter. It didn't matter where we had the prom. After all, who in 2 years would care? Alas, the gals I worked with didn't see the light. And it didn't matter much anyway; like I said, it was a petty issue.

Deval Patrick listened to the people. When health insurance, civil rights, tax rates or other important issues are at stake, sometimes Governors are called to make the tough, unpopular choice.

But an Ameriquest paycheck wasn't that kind of choice. It was the "where are we going to have prom" kind of choice. If Deval Patrick displayed any leadership today, it's this: Deval Patrick knows when it's right to dig in for something he believes in - and when it's right to appease the people on an issue that by all rights shouldn't be an issue to begin with.

Joan Vennochi: Money Isn't a Problem

With all due respect, I must disagree with Vennochi's latest OP-ED. Why? Quite simply, whoever wins the Democratic Nomination is going to have enough money.

Again, I find myself being a broken record: Vote for the person you support, not the person you think is most likely to win. All three Democrats would have a pretty good chance in beating Kerry Healey. In fact, I'll go on record as saying that I think all three would win. They'll all have enough money and they'll all certainly get enough free press.

Vote for who you think will do the best job, not the richest, not the best looking, not the tallest - just you think who will do the best. For once in my life, I'd like to see a close primary race be about a battle of ideas.

Why Do I Read Larry Sabato?

I'll deduce the answer right now: because other people do. I need to know what they know. I need to know what they know to counter the crap people are willing to shove into their noggin from Mr. Sabato, who some people seem to consider a political god. I think he's much more like the Bay State's own John Keller, except maybe a little more eloquent in print.

Now, don't get me wrong. Sabato can have his moments, but his latest "Crystal Ball" was anything but a moment of clarity or political genius.

Yet as Kennedy flew to the Mayo Clinic for yet more drug dependency treatment, he took Democrats' hopes of running against the Republican "culture of corruption" with him.

It would be one thing if there were only Tom DeLay, or Goss, or just "Duke" Cunningham, or just Abramoff, or Bill Frist, or Scooter Libby. Instead, all of these members of the Republican leadership are currently being boiled alive in their own scandals. It isn't just one person - it's the entire Republican leadership.

Cunningham's in prison - Abramoff to follow. Tom DeLay is retiring and may be heading to the joint himself, with Scooter Libby likely to follow him. Libby and Abramoff are both likely to squeal like pigs to save their skin.

But damn that Kennedy! His car accident and drug problem equals the lie the brought America to war, the American torture chambers in Eastern Europe, the outing of a CIA agent for political revenge... and more than a dozen examples of extreme corruption not seen since Nixon was forced to flee office.

This congressman with the celebrity name grabbed everyone's attention, and he reminded the public in an unforgettable way that sleaze and corruption and special favors on Capitol Hill are very much bipartisan. That's what the American people believe anyway, and now they have had it confirmed in new headlines.

Writing has an amazing quality. If you write it, people will believe it. If Sabato and the like keep repeating themselves, people will indeed believe it. As of now, America favors Democrats being in charge on Capitol Hill... so I'm inclined to disagree with Sabato. However, I'm sure he'll keep prophesizing it until he says it enough times that it becomes true.

I Promised This: A Picture of Me in "Electra"

Ryan as Aegisthus:

20% more tyrannical than President Bush!

An Important Message for Deval Patrick:

I just read a great blog from Lynne at Left in Lowell, suggesting Deval Patrick step down from the Board of Ameriquest. We're both big supporters in Deval Patrick and believe in his message, believe in the fact that he offers Massachusetts the best opportunity to fully meet its potential. I must agree with Lynne:

Deval Patrick, step down from Ameriquest! I think you've served that company with the best intentions, helping clean up its bad ways. However, they're gutting jobs in Massachusetts - and what better way to support Bay State jobs than refusing to be a part of a company practicing a very bad Massachusetts trend of cutting jobs here? Don't profit from a company that would do Bay State citizens harm.

Explain to the public that you can't, in good conscience, serve a company willing to create even more job losses in our great state. The public will rally around such a serious decision: it's the type of bold leadership I've come to expect of you!

An Important Message from an Anonymous Commenter

I just read this on Americablog (which is wierd, I hardly ever read comments on that site because there's usually a hundred of them) and I found Comedy GOLD. GOLD I tell you:

I support Bush. I support Bush because I believe that he is a good Christian man. I support Bush because he’s a man of old-time morals. Bush may not have any fancy new-fangled Ivy-league “credentials”, and he may not use fancy words, but that’s just fine with me. Bush is a true defender of traditional American values. He is always determined to do the right thing. He is a man of his word. He’s a straight shooter all the way who loves his country. He’s a simple man, a plain spoken man, and a man who comes from modest means. Therefore he represents all us real Americans. Bush looks to be the kind of man that ordinary folks could sit down and have beer with, and therefore he is a man you can trust, and the kind of man we want in the White House. He may not have a lot of book smarts, but that’s just fine because a bunch of fancy book smarts ain’t gonna do no nothin to help us ole’ boys who gotta work for a livin. I supported Bush because I believe in the right to own and shoot guns, cause gun ownership and shootin is our right, and he ain’t gonna allow no wussy-ass screamin liberals to come down here from NY to take away our guns. I also supported Bush because I believe in the bible, and I heard that Bush loves Jesus. I fail to understand why the lessons of the bible aren’t taught in the schools. But at least we can count on Bush to stop the gays from coming down here from California to take over our towns and communities. And at least we can count on Bush to stop the gays and the liberals from taking over our churches and invading our family home. And we can count on Bush to stop the terrorists from attacking or treasured values. Bush is the only man strong enough to proudly stand up and defend the country and defend the flag from the terrorists and the liberals. I also supported Bush because I drive a Ford truck, and I believe in the right to own and drive Ford trucks, cause driven Ford trucks is our right, and Bush aint gonna allow no wussy-ass tree-huggin liberals to come down here from NY and California to take away my truck and make me drive some small-ass hybrid car.

It's scary to think that these are the people who vote and keep King George in power.

Update: I realize it's very possible that this was a joke - and I cross posted this on my Myspace blog with that caveat, but somehow didn't put it on here. In any event, it doesn't change the fact that this is the real thought process of a significant amount of people who support President Bush.

Pictures from Electra - the Play I'm In

Again, this has nothing to do with anything I normally blog about here, but it is why I won't be posting too many substantive blogs this week - since my play opens Thursday.

Anyway, without further ado, here's some pictures from the play. Notice our awesome set! (Look for pictures of me on Thursday... my costume is snazzy! And, if you're nearby UMASS, COME! I want to meet some of my readers!)

My Show Opens Thursday!

Well, I just wanted to let everyone know that I probably won't be posting as regularly this week. I'm in the UMASS Dartmouth Theatre Company's production of "Electra," written by Sophecles. I'm playing the role of Aegisthus, a greek king. He plotted to kill Agamemnon, who led the greeks at Troy.

If anyone wants to come, the show opens Thursday at UMASS Dartmouth and runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday (May 4th, 5th and 6th) at 8pm -- and a matinee on Sunday, May 7th, at 2pm. It's 3 dollars for UMASS students, $8 for other students and senior citizens, $10 for all other adults. Make sure to say hello after the performance!

Last semester I did "Urinetown," which went fantastic. While "Electra" is completely different (for starters, there's no singing) - many members of the cast are the same - which bodes well for our reviews (The New Bedford Standard Times loved us!).

In any event, I'm sure I'll find the time to blog at least once or twice this week, but they'll probably be shorter and less frequent. Give me some clicks anyway =p For all the Harry Potter nerds out there, I'm a real-live Professor Lockheart and I love attention =)