All of my fellow Kossacks have been doing such a great job of shining a light on the flawed parts of our country and governmental systems that need attention and fixing, that I am in awe of the energy, intelligence, and dedication shown. I have articulated below the fruits of all this brainstorming and collective activity by imagining some of the headlines we might see as a result of all our efforts. The thing is, this can happen. Our forefathers achieved much of this in their time.

U.S. House Representative Brian Higgins from the 27th district in New York (Buffalo Area) was publicly criticized from the pulpit during a mass for his YES vote in congress in support of Stem Cell research. To make matters worse, he and his family were at the mass at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Buffalo because it was a memorial mass for the wife of a friend (that also has the last name of Higgins!). It was a mass dedicated to the memory of someone's loved one. The family was grieving and trying to pay public respect and honor the life of thier friend's spouse. The immediate family was in mourning. During this memorial mass the deacon Tom McDonnell singled out Rep. Brian Higgins and pilloried him personally for this Yes vote in front of the entire congregation!

A deacon upbraided Rep. Brian Higgins during Sunday morning Mass in St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church for voting in favor of embryonic stem cell research, prompting the congressman and his family to walk out during the sermon

Staff writers for the Raleigh News and Observer Joseph Neff and Jay Price wrote an article that appeared in today's paper, detailing steps Rep. Henry Waxman has begun to take to start the accountability train rolling when it comes to contracting in Iraq. Read full article here:

http://www.newsobserver.com/...

I think the participants in this great American rip-off are already starting to feel the heat, and it's only going to get hotter courtesy of the honorable Mr. Waxman.

I just finished listening to Al Gore's speech at NYU. I don't see another diary on it as of now, but will delete if necessary.

I witnessed the true potential of real leadership while watching Al Gore's speech today at NYU. He spoke with clarity, passion, and believe it or not, hope.
His ideas to help solve some of our CO2 emmision problems below the fold.

Accross the pond, an article in the Daily Mail details how Tony Blair feels let down by Bush. In essence, Blair pushed the WH to take up the road map for peace, in exchange, the U.K. backed U.S. foreign ploicy in nearly every regard. Now Mr. Blair feels Bush has "let him down Badly".

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/...

My intent in creating green & renewable energy diaries is to help with raising the awareness of  alternative energy sources and to explore some of the possibilities that await us.  All that is needed is the will, which translates into ideas, which can be converted into action.  I feel the rising tide of concern for our planet as we struggle against huge entrenched moneyed interests that opt to dismiss concern, breakthroughs, new products, and the health of our planet, all for business as usual.  Last go around, I explored alternatives related to Biomass, you can read it here.

 http://www.dailykos.com/...

In my first Green energy diary, I focused on the overall need to accelerate the conversion to alternative & green energy solutions here in the U.S., you can read it here:

http://www.dailykos.com/...

By the end of researching that diary, It was staggering to me how many innovations had been discovered, and put to use elsewhere in the world, but through lack of funding, lack of leadership, or just plain lack of caring, not as much had been done to implement these solutions here at home.  It seems there are infinite reams of information available on the subject.  I thought I might take a stab at bringing some of the voluminous material to Dkos, in bite size pieces, so that we may all understand what potentials lie ahead in our energy future. The "feature dish" on the green & renewable menu today: BIOMASS

Green renewable energy.  It single handedly, if nurtured properly, could break the cycle of on again off again energy squeezes, the too familiar crisis, and much of our current, politically motivated mideast shenanigans.

On January 15 & 16 in 2005 off the coast of the Outer Banks in North Carolina, near Oregon Inlet, a mass beaching of Whales occurred. I remember reading about this tragedy at the time and being deeply saddend. It was shocking because so many whales washed up and were killed. a Minke, 2 dwarf sperm whales, and a whopping 33 short finned piolot whales.

Station Flushes Rush as ratings fall was the headline.  WBAL-AM in Baltimore cited falling ratings as the reason for the cancellation.

link here http://www.baltimoresun.com/...

Rush Limbaugh one of the most popular and polarizing radio personalities of recent years, has been sacked in Baltimore.

The article further states that after a decade in Baltimore his show will be canceled after May 31st.

The presents are opened, the leftovers are running low, it is now time to turn our attention to the new year. An air of reflection and resolve permeate the air and it is time to take pen in hand and write down what we would like to do better.  The approaching new year helps us put our activities into perspective and many of us find our branches need pruning.

We all know our republican "bretheren" are not an inherently introspective lot.  They prefer to damn the torpedos, come what may.  Unfortunatly, this year that attitude is putting our nation in serious constitutional jeopardy.  In the spirit of bipartisan cooperation I have put pen to paper and put together a list of :