Today's Tidbits

Alaskans Impale Palin

Thanks to Daily Kos for tipping me off to this YouTube video of Alaskans protesting Sarah Palin, displaying some excellent homemade signs. My favorite, highlighting Sarah Palin’s foreign policy experience: “I see Russia, I’ve heard of France, I wear Chinese underpants.”

Speaking In Tongues

Andrew Sullivan sees shades of Sarah Palin in this comic vignette about a “multilingual” assistant:

The Mendacity of McMath; The Veracity of Van Jones

John McCain claimed during Friday night’s debate that building 45 new nuclear power reactors by 2030 would create 700,000 new jobs in the U.S. We’re so used to politicians pulling numbers out of their asses at this point that hardly anyone beyond the blogosphere seems to question statements like this. Kudos to my fellow Kossack nirsnet, who took the trouble to refute McCain’s preposterous claim:

…according to sworn testimony before the Maryland Public Service Commission, top officials of UniStar Nuclear, which seeks to build a new, 1600 Megawatt nuclear reactor on the Chesapeake Bay--by far the largest in the United States, testified that this proposed project would create a maximum of 4,000 short-lived construction jobs—most lasting one year or less--and 360 permanent jobs.

Multiply that by 45 new reactors and you get 180,000 temporary jobs and 16,200 permanent jobs. Temporary jobs would be less than 20% of what McCain claims, permanent jobs would be far fewer than 5% of McCain’s claims.

OK, so McCain’s only off by, oh, about 500,000. Hard to know what’s more impaired: his math skills or his integrity?

The day after McCain delivered that nugget of nuclear disinformation, more than 100,000 people rallied all over the country for "Green Jobs Now: A Day to Build the New Economy,” a day of action spearheaded by Van Jones, who foresees all kinds of empowerment growing from homegrown alternative power. From MarketWatch:

"We can't drill and burn our way out of this economic crisis. We can -- and must -- invest and invent our way out," said Van Jones, founder and president of Green For All. "600,000 jobs have been lost this year alone. We need to free ourselves from our dependence on foreign oil, and instead invest in jobs in sustainable industries -- wind and solar, among others. Only then will we be able to fight poverty and pollution at the same time."

If you share Van Jone’s vision, please take a minute to sign the petition in support of these goals at greenjobsnow.com.

The Green Mind Behind Those Blue Eyes

We’re all terribly saddened by the passing of Paul Newman, who gave us so many great films and much, much more. His Newman’s Own brand, and its organic offshoot, headed by his daughter Nell, are a tribute to his desire to do good and give back. Newman's sustainable sensibility is nicely captured in this quote from the New York Times obituary:

“We are such spendthrifts with our lives,” Mr. Newman once told a reporter. “The trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster. I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out.”