Some Things Never Seem To Change

Why is it OK for the people in power to beat up and detain the less powerful who are simply trying to tell their side of things? Why is it OK for the powerful to use violence, but not OK for those who are powerless?

From Climate talks deadlocked as clashes erupt outside by Charles J. Hanley:

Police fired pepper spray and beat protesters with batons outside the U.N. climate conference Wednesday, as disputes inside left major issues unresolved just two days before world leaders hope to sign a historic agreement to fight global warming.

Hundreds of protesters were trying to disrupt the 193-nation conference, the latest action in days of demonstrations to demand "climate justice" — firm steps to combat global warming. Police said 230 protesters were detained.

Hundreds of protesters marched on the suburban Bella Center, where lines of Danish riot police waited in protective cordons. Some demonstrators said they wanted to take over the global conference and turn it into a "people's assembly." As they approached police lines, they were hit with pepper spray, and TV pictures showed a man being pushed from a police van's roof and struck with a baton by an officer.

Clearly, no one is representing these protesters at this conference. Why not?

What's Bush Been Up To?

From Bush Administration Pushing Last-Minute Rollbacks:

The Bush administration is trying to finalize several new rules, covering a range of policy issues, before a new administration takes over and despite its own policy directive. The new rules would relax the standards and enforcement of longstanding federal laws, including the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Read the rest here.

Wal-Mart, Environmental Activist?

I am always skeptical about “Big Business” promoting itself about being environmentally friendly in some way. However, I don’t know what the downside is to Wal-Mart and it’s promotion of compact fluorescent light bulbs.

I already knew they were promoting the selling of compact fluorescent light bulbs:

At the Wal-Mart home office, they talk about swirls with a zeal that goes beyond product promotion, as if the bulbs are a pioneering product, a new way of thinking about retailing. Says Andrew Ruben, Wal-Mart's vice president of sustainability: "We realize that we can influence big things. Energy usage. Efficiency. Dependence on foreign oil. And we realized that if we're really going to move things, it's not about our direct footprint--our stores, our offices--it's about our supply chain and our customers. So this is about selling lightbulbs, but it's far bigger. This has huge implications for the world."

However, I didn’t know that they also were pushing for the reduction of the amount of mercury used in the manufacture of these light bulbs:

To reduce the amount of mercury in its CFLs, Wal-Mart worked closely with manufacturers GE, Royal Philips, Osram Sylvania and Lights of America. All four suppliers committed to achieving a greater reduction in mercury content than the 5 mg standard set by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) earlier this year. These suppliers will also adhere to clean production techniques that will minimize mercury pollution from factories manufacturing CFLs.

One last observation; they’re not really bulbs, are they?