Month: March 2012

By Posted on Posted in Democracy, Ethics in Government, Peace and War, Politics, poverty, privacy, propaganda, Social and Economic Justice, Transparency vs. Secrecy Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This is a rare occurrence: Three of my heroes made separate local appearances this week—two from the generation older than me, and one from the generation that follows me.

George McGovern
George McGovern, 89, former Senator, Democratic nominee for President in 1972, and stalwart of the ’70s-era peace movement spoke Saturday to support his new book, What It Means To Be A Democrat, to bring attention to hunger causes—and to support Rep. James McGovern’s (no relation) re-election campaign. (I’m looking forward to having the younger McGovern, one of the most progressive voices in Congress, represent me; our town just got moved into his district.)

Born in 1956, I was too young to cast my vote for McGovern in 1972—but not too young to campaign for him, which I did. I also met the candidate at a campaign rally in the north Bronx (NYC) neighborhood where I was living (not a place that typically attracted national political figures). He impressed me with his decency, although not his speaking skills (charisma was not one of his big qualities). Listening to him on a local radio station this week, I was glad he’s become a better speaker—and glad, too, that he’s still willing to buck the system and oppose the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq…stand for positivity and discourse in politics…and be a voice for the voiceless whose safety net continues to be slashed by both parties.

McGovern, the elder, is a reminder of the days when the Democratic Party actually supported democratic values of peace, an anti-poverty agenda, and civil liberties—values that seem hard-to-find in today’s party, where the Dennis Kuciniches and Barbara Lees, Alan Graysons, and James McGoverns of the world are a tiny isolated minority at the far-left edge of a party filled with “centrists” who are less willing to back a progressive agenda than Richard Nixon was during his presidency. How can you take seriously a party that claims to be progressive and lets people like Ben Nelson and Steny Hoyer define it?

Where are the towering figures like Barbara Jordan, Birch Bayh, Bela Abzug, Shirley Chisolm, Tom Harkin, James Abourezk and so many others—all of whom served with George McGovern in Congress? Where is even a figure like Lyndon Johnson, able to grow past his southern segregationist heritage and shepherd through a series of civil rights bills? These were Democrats who were not afraid to speak their mind, not afraid to fight for justice, and willing to do what they could to steer the US toward a better path. They didn’t turn tail and start mumbling apologies any time someone called them a liberal as if it were some kind of curse word instead of a badge of honor—a disgraceful path embraced by Michael Dukakis during his 1988 Presidential run, and by far too many Democrats since.

Daniel Ellsberg
Another of my pantheon of childhood heroes, Daniel Ellsberg, 80, spoke on a panel of whistleblowers Thursday evening at Mt.Holyoke College. Ellsberg risked life in prison to release the Pentagon Papers, a massive set of documents that utterly discredited any plausible justification for the Vietnam war.

Ellsberg didn’t go to prison, though—because the government’s case was dismissed after it was discovered that the feds had way overstepped their bounds in investigating him. Unfortunately, under laws championed by and passed under both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, what they did to him would be legal today. That is a travesty, and part of what I mean when I say the Democrats have abandoned a progressive agenda. Despite whistleblower protection laws and even payment passed since the 1970s, the government is not nice when the whistleblowers go after government fraud. Whistleblowers still risk severe punishment (just look at Bradley Manning).

If you ask me, those who expose corruption at great personal risk are heroes, not criminals.

Rachel Maddow
Local weekend resident Rachel Maddow speaks tonight, also at Mount Holyoke. Maddow, who turns 39 tomorrow, has been a refreshing progressive, articulate, and intelligent voice in a generally desolate mainstream-media landscape. I’ve been a fan of hers since she made her radio debut as a morning-show newscaster on WRNX here in the Valley.

It’s great that there are people like Maddow to catch the torch as my generation, and my parents’ generation, starts passing it. We need more like her.

[Disclosure: I was not able to attend any of the events in person. This post is based on hearing McGovern and Ellsberg in separate appearances on Bill Newman’s radio show on WHMP, and on coverage in the Northampton, MA newspaper, the Daily Hampshire Gazette.]

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By Posted on Posted in Uncategorized

As a favor to one of my travel writers, posting his call for submissions. This is not what I usually publish and please don’t flood me with requests.

“ROTTEN VACATIONS,” a new upcoming paperback literary travel annual, edited by John M. Edwards, Bruce Northam, and (maybe) Tony Perottet, is accepting submissions for its “second” issue. Please send your essays about bad trips (no e-mail queries, except if you have an incredible “idear”) via regular mail to: JOHN M. EDWARDS: Rotten Vacations, editor: The Archstone: 250 W. 50th St. #15L, New York, NY 10019: 212.219.8126: pigafet@earthlink.net. We prefer foreign over domestic, but USA pieces are acceptable as long as they don’t involve inconvenient car trips with crying kids. Send only your best, immaculately edited, narrative essays, along with photos (if you have any) and a 100 word bio. No deadlines and no reading fees, although a helping donation of $10-20 donation assures contributors that we will take your submission seriously, and larger donations may even land your name in print in the acknowledgments. . . .

A shopping surprise in Australia

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By Posted on Posted in Business Ethics, Customer Service as Marketing, Shel's Personal Life, Technology, Web 2.0/Social Media Tagged with , , , ,

A complete customer service nightmare, not to mention I made the mistake of trusting my data to this bunch of losers.

Last April, I bought one year of the SafeSync data protection program, that supposedly backs up my files to a server on the cloud. About ten days ago, I accidentally deleted an important file. So I strolled over to the Trend Micro site, and attempted to retrieve the file.

After all, whenever I click on the software, it smiles at me and tells me that all my files are up to date.

Trend Micro's SafeSync lies to its custoemr
While not backing up my data, Trend Micro's SafeSync claims it is.

It wasn’t there.

Not only wasn’t it there, but the last time that folder was backed up was in July! I wish I’d taken a screen shot. I haven’t changed any of the settings since I set up the program.

So of course, I initiated a customer service request. And my request apparently led some employee at Trend to delete my entire backup, so I could not demonstrate that it stopped working.

Today I spent an hour on the phone with a tech, who was not able to locate any of my files. At this point, having utterly lost confidence in the product, I asked for a refund. I was told, first by Miss Clueless (who was, BTW, a very poor listener) and then later by Richard, her supervisor, that I would have needed to request that refund by 30 days after purchase. Then Richard tried to blame it on me, saying the empty data folder meant I had installed it improperly. I pointed out that I could see the first three months of files when I’d logged on earlier in the month. I pointed out that I had paid for a year of service, and that after 30 days, it was still working properly. No refund. I tried to escalate. He said “I’ll save you time. There will be no refund” and did not honor my request to talk to his supervisor.

Hello! I bought a year of backup data security; I received, apparently, three months

I am therefore adding to my list of missions to save you from buying anything from a company whose product lies to its customers, whose customer service staff is atrocious and which does not stand behind its product. All they had to do was give me back my $61. I would not have been happy about the lost data, but at least I would not have been charged for services not received. But they can’t be bothered, and I’m not going to get any work done until I vent. I’m pretty steamed at the moment.

In addition to safeSync (yeah, real safe!), they also make an antvirus product called Titanium and a cyberblocker called Online Guardian. And a suite called Internet Security Pro, and an eneterprise security program called Endpoint Security. Guess what I won’t be buying! A company this lacking in business ethics shoots itself in the foot. They clearly have no concept of customer service as either marketing or damage control.

My blog gets automatically posted to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, with over 10,000 total connections. I hope I can save a few of those people from wasting money with a company that doesn’t care.

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By Posted on Posted in Energy & Sustainability, Politics, Protests and Crackdowns, Shel's Personal Life, Socially Responsible Investing Tagged with , , ,

Entergy’s Vermont Yankee nuclear plant’s license expired Wednesday night, after 40 years. 40 years of leaks, collapsing cooling tower, tritium in the water, unexpected outages…in short, 40 years of a very poor safety record.

I’m looking at the first page of the official Atomic Energy Commission report on Abnormal Occurrences for the 1973–the last year a full report is available, because after that the AEC (which then became the so-called Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC). Only a year into its use cycle, when it should have shaken out all the problems and long before radioactive corrosion, old age or other more recent stress factors, Vermont Yankee reported 39 separate incidents–that’s nearly one per week. Page one of the report, reprinted in the classic book No Nukes, by Anna Gyorgy and Friends (page 107 in my 1977 edition), shows that the first six included:

  • A switch in the Emergency Core Cooling System that failed to activate (potentially extremely serious)
  • Four miscalibrated radiation monitors
  • Power supply failure of a gamma radiation monitor on the perimeter
  • Discovery that some instrument sensor tubes were connected wrong, because the plant’s designers produced faulty drawings
  • Unplanned shutdown following an explosion that fractured the air ejector rupture disc, and release of radiation
  • A second air ejector rupture disc fracture and release of radiation

Again, these are just the first six of 39, during a single year of the plant’s 40-year operation.

Meanwhile, as a condition of operation, Entergy agreed a few years ago to be bound by approval of the state legislature to continue operation past its license expiration. Yet, when the state senate voted 26-4 in 2010 to close the plant, Entergy (which had expected at the tine it signed the agreement to win the legislative approval) reneged, sued the state, and actually found a judge–John Murtha–who issued an idiotic decision in the company’s favor, saying the legislature was clearly concerned about safety and nuclear safety was reserved for the federal government–specifically, for the NRC, which has so far NEVER to my knowledge turned down either a new or renewal license. (They should rename themselves the Nuclear Rah-Rah Cheerleaders)

So much for democracy, state’s rights, etc. The legislature, the governor, and a large majority of the state’s population (not to mention numerous government officials in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire, both of which are within four miles of the plant) all want to see this monstrosity shut down.

The state is appealing, but somehow, there’s no injunction to keep the plant from operating until the suit is resolved.

Along with about 1600 other people, I went up to Brattleboro, Vermont today to protest Yankee’s continued operation. Some 130 people got arrested. I didn’t, but my 93-year-old friend Frances Crowe did. I first met Frances, a Northampton, Massachusetts hero and living treasure, in 1977, when we were both incarcerated in the Manchester, NH National Guard Armory when 1414 of us were arrested at the construction site for the Seabrook, NH nuke. I saw a number of people today who I remembered from that and other Clamshell Alliance actions in the late 1970s.

Nuclear is a really dumb idea. I wrote a whole book on it. From a safety, economics, fuel efficiency, or even carbon footprint point of view, nuclear power is a disaster. And the GE Mark I design used at 23 US reactors including Vermont Yankee–the same one used at Fukushima–is particularly bad. Why are we mortgaging our future for no benefit?

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By Posted on Posted in Abundance and Prosperity, Democracy, Demographics/Psychographics, Ethics in Government, Politics, poverty, Social and Economic Justice

I’m pleased to bring you this guest post by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, chaired by Reps. Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Keith Ellison (D- Minn.)—who, along with  Rep. Michael Honda, prepared this alternative budget. If the slash-and-burn mentality of Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum makes you want to vomit, share this with your friends, colleagues, and progressive allies. The original appeared at  https://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=81&sectiontree=5,81, where you can also watch a video.

—Shel Horowitz, GreenAndProfitable.com

The Budget for All makes the American Dream a reality again. By putting Americans back to work, the Budget for All enhances our economic competitiveness by rebuilding the middle class and investing in innovation and education.  Our budget protects Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, invests in America’s future, and asks those who have benefited most from our economy to pay their fair share.

Our Budget Puts Americans Back to Work
Our budget attacks America’s persistently high unemployment levels with more than $2.4 trillion in job-creating investments.  This plan utilizes every tool at the government’s disposal to get our economy moving again, including:
• Direct hire programs that create a School Improvement Corps, a Park Improvement Corps, and a Student Jobs Corps, among others.
• Targeted tax incentives that spur clean energy, manufacturing, and cutting-edge technological investments in the private sector.
• Widespread domestic investments including an infrastructure bank, a $556 billion surface transportation bill, and approximately $1.7 trillion in widespread domestic investment.

Our Budget Exhibits Fiscal Discipline
• Unlike the Republican budget, the Budget for All substantially reduces the deficit, and does so in a way that does not devastate what Americans want preserved.
• We achieve these notable benchmarks by focusing on the true drivers of our deficit – unsustainable tax policies, the wars overseas, and policies that helped cause the recent recession – rather than putting the middle class’s  social safety net on the chopping block.

Our Budget Creates a Fairer America
• Ends tax cuts for the top 2% of Americans on schedule at year’s end
• Extends tax relief for middle class households and the vast  majority of Americans
• Creates new tax brackets for millionaires and billionaires, in line with the Buffett Rule principle
• Eliminates the tax code’s preferential treatment of capital gains and dividends
• Abolishes corporate welfare for oil, gas, and coal companies
• Eliminates loopholes that allow businesses to dodge their true tax liability
• Creates a publicly funded federal election system that gets corporate money out of politics for good

Our Budget Brings Our Troops Home
• Responsibly and expeditiously ends our military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, leaving America more secure at home and abroad
• Adapts our military to address 21st century threats; through modernization, the Department of Defense will spend less and stop contributing to our deficit problems

Protects American Families
• Provides a Making Work Pay tax credit for families struggling with high gas and food cost 2013-2015
• Extends Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child and Dependent Care Credit
• Invests in programs to stave off further foreclosures to keep families in their homes
• Invests in our children’s education by increasing Education, Training, and Social Services

 

 

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By Posted on Posted in Abundance and Prosperity, Frugality/Frugal Fun, Shel's Personal Life Tagged with , , , , ,

As a 38-year vegetarian, I keep at least half an eye on trends around vegetarianism. I was quite tickled t odiscover a few months ago that former President Bill Clinton (Mr. Hamburger himself) is now a vegan.

Now this article on TriplePundit says meat can kill you.

When I got my physical last month, my doctor asked, as usual, what medications I take. Other than a couple of topical skin ointments, I take no meds. He congratulated me on the good health of my heart and lungs–though I suspect that has more to do with my 1-to-2-hours-a-day exercise program than with my diet. He keeps telling me that other than my overbig belly, I’m in much better shape than most people my age (55).

I’m sure nearly four decades without meat certainly helps to keep me healthy! So if the moral, economic, world hunger, or other arguments aren’t enough to cut your meat intake, consider living longer and in better health.

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By Posted on Posted in Energy & Sustainability

Neat article on Treehugger showing several wicked-cool examples of buildings that keep cool using stored water, overlay walls and other techniques that used to be common, but have been largely abandoned as air conditioning became more available. These buildings return to their cultural roots while bringing 21st-century green technology into the equation.

I’m impressed—how about you?

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By Posted on Posted in Advertising, Business-general, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies, People Helping People Tagged with , ,

I recently discovered that my pages have vanished from the top couple of pages for searches for résumé writing in my local area.

From 1985 to 1995, résumé writing for local clients was the biggest chunk of my business. At this point, it’s a very small percentage of what I do—my focus is far more on marketing consulting and copywriting for authors, publishers, and small businesses (especially those with green products and services).

But even though it’s a tiny fraction of my business, it’s work that I enjoy and am good at, and for local clients, it provides me with some human contact that I don’t get through a lot of my other work. And I do want to be found if people are looking.

For years, Google has brought me an occasional résumé client. I hadn’t noticed any drop off, but the résumé portion is such a small part of the operation these days, that it’s hard to measure real drops.

So, in December, I made a special page, just for resume writing in Western Massachusetts, and crammed it full of place names for cities, towns, and counties around here. And added Like buttons for Google+ and Facebook.

Google is known to “sandbox” new pages: to let them sit outside the index for a while until they determine the page to be legitimate. And a page with this many keywords may be particularly at risk.

You can participate in this experiment at https://www.accuratewriting.com/wmass_resumes.shtml. Please click the two buttons; let’s see how long it takes for Google to notice. I will report back the results, whatever happens.

So far, in the three months since the page went up, Google has sent me one résumé client. I think the page is still in the sandbox. However, if you beleive in the Law of Attraction, here’s some validation: I’ve had a noticeable uptick in résumé work generally, but from other sources.

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By Posted on Posted in Energy & Sustainability, Frugality/Frugal Fun, Green Business, Socially Responsible Investing Tagged with , ,

You may have heard the slogan, “the greenest building is the one that’s already built.”

Think about it: You’re using existing resources, and those resources are already on-site. For the parts of the existing building that you can adapt or fix, you don’t have to mine or cut down anything, you don’t have to transport anything, and you don’t have to clear a new site out of farmland or forest.

Here’s a nice article on TriplePundit about a renovation of a former military barracks in Ft.Carson, Colorado into an office building. The project cost only a quarter of what a new building would have cost, and is green enough to be submitted for LEED silver certification. And that’s particularly interesting, because my understanding is that military barracks were typically built cheaply, quickly, and with little thought for conservation.

Another great example is the Empire State Building—which spent $20 million to achieve annual energy savings of more than $4 million. That works out to better than 20 percent ROI—at a time when you can’t even get 1 percent in a savings account. Not a bad investment!

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