Sarah Palin, the genetic lottery.

It's time like these where I'm glad to be a blogger. These times when the country is split in half on all the issues, and the issues we agree on we don't do shit about. Times like these where political candidates run on hate speech and propaganda.

Sarah Palin thought she would come to Wisconsin to show support for Governor Walker. She agrees with him on all his points. Yeah yeah. But the protestors at her speech weren't about to let her off scot-free

Palin: Wis. gov doing the right thing with unions

Here's the proof of Andrew Breitbart's insulting the protestors at the speech:

"go to hell."I'm serious!" he screamed. "Go to hell! You're trying to divide America!"

For progressives like me, this is an instant headache. It's instigation to try and destroy the unions credibility. And lets be honest, when was the last time you heard a protestor in Madison ask for anything other than respect for their own livelihoods?

Asking for respect and dividing America are two different things in my book. And last I checked, protesting is absolutely essential to true democracy. And what can I say, the Wisconsin protestors never fail to make me smile. "We drink beer, not Tea!" Solidarity, mother fuckers.



Now let's actually look at her speech. Don't be prepared for anything larger than 2 syllables. Oh and can we get some dislikes on these videos? Just one will be worth it since conservatives can barely work computers.



I'm sorry that I can't give you a dialogue between me and her, but she's literally spouting lies. What can you expect from AFP? (AKA Koch Brothers) Just try and imagine i'm saying the exact opposite of everything she is saying, and that will be pretty close.

So when it comes down to it, this is the future of conservative politics. She's the idiotic soccer mom that's not an "intellectual" that every conservative wants in office. She's the idiot with no experience, jumping on the "make the hard decisions" bandwagon that todays lemmings seem to be encapsulated with.

She gives me a heartache. She makes me mourn for the dead brain cells she's caused. She's worse than cancer, because cancer can go away. Her biological makeup makes her the most annoying, stupid motherfucker I've ever seen in my life; and honestly, it's not so much that I don't want to see her run because i'm ready for that.

It's that no matter how many times I think of Utopia, where everyone gets along and everyone is happy with each other, there's still Sarah Palin making some stupid fucking speech, wasting everyone's time and critical thinking skills.

She is the antithesis to progressive change.

She doesn't know how to fix a budget. She doesn't know how to fix anything. All she knows how to do is give braindead speeches and taught her daughter to do the same.

Extra Credit: the Full Speech, if you can even handle it. The protestors make it hard to hear.



I'll just leave it at that. Hahaha. I feel kind of bad for her, well not really. It's just awesome when you watch someone butcher any credibility they might have had.

News for comedy! Cheers!

The reality of the 2012 presidential election

In the last 10 years, America has accumulated an enormous deficit on the back of a retarded texan hillbilly, George W. Bush.

In 2004, the American people were lightheaded when he was elected to a second term. The incumbent advantage here turned into a disastrous 3 trillion dollar deficit by the end of his term.

Obama, the first black president elected in 2008, the democratic rebound in politics, the answer to the countries terrible downturn.

Thank you Obama for all your wonderful contributions.

• refused to roll back taxes on the wealthy
• refused to establish a windfall profits tax on oil companies
• refused to investigate activities carried out by telecom companies
• illegally helped the government tap our phones, and who continued to tap phones without a warrant
• turned his back on Miranda
• refused to investigate any of the Bush Admin. lies, incompetence, corruption or torture
• supported anti-democratic, murderous coup regimes in Central America
• refused to restore Habeas Corpus
• left Guantanamo open indefinitely and maintain that its inmates had no rights at all
• continued extraordinary rendition and torture
• fought to keep Dick Cheney's remarks to Plame investigators secret
• did nothing of substance to rein in Wall St.
• continued to issue signing statements
• continued to delay investigations of CIA torture and even investigate those who protest that torture
• traded away the Public Option even while saying he was in favor of it
• expanded the war in Afghanistan
• opened "vast expanses" of Atlantic seaboard, Gulf of Mexico and Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling
• put politics before science and minimized the BP oil spill and then claimed that there was practically no oil left and that "the microbes ate it!"
• continually filed briefs in favor of large corporate polluters
• was in favor of whale hunting
• used cluster bombs on civilians in Yemen
• refused to investigate Bush's political firings of US Attorneys
• appointed a bunch of right wing psychopaths to the Commission of Fiscal Responsibility
• tried to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and middle class
• allowed Wall St. Banks, the filthy rich and military corporations to continue plundering our economy
• tried to institute policies which would effectively shut down the internet.

Kudos for this list CCrider

Is this what America wants? No! The people are losing, we're losing really fucking hard.

The GOP and the Tea-Party rave and rant harder than ever. They support everything destroying the middle class and giving to the top class. Then, democrats like Cuomo acknowledging the "reality" of the budget crisis only to keep giving to wealthy.
We can't be tricked like this.

"How far will elected Democrats from the White House on down go in capitulating to the insatiable corporate dominators if their liberal/progressive base continues to signal that they politically have nowhere to go? These voters seem to have few visible breaking points on the dark horizon of over-reaching corporatism.

You have both sides doing the same thing, and I think Ralph Nader presents the reality of the true democratic crisis. Democratic here, being that the people choose, not the corporations.

How is it that polls indicate 81% of Americans agree with higher taxes for millionairies, and both parties continue to present apocalyptic cuts in the name of the budget?


The numbers are there. The bottom 20% sees 200$ a year in additional income. The top 1% sees 6 million a year in just GROWTH.

This is financial insanity.

When you see someone backing Obama, it's not because they want him in office, it's because they think he's better than the GOP. It's because they want to support him because they are also a democrat. But in the reality of it, he's never been on record for any progressive policy, even when he had the perfect senate democratic majority. Those are the facts.

You saw Obama say "No, Ryan, your budget sucks at 33 billion in cuts, i'll give you 38 billion and not a penny more."

Progressives need to have a citizen power like the Tea Party, because you see republicans pushing that agenda. Where do you see democrats being overlooked by the progressive people? YOU DON'T. You see protests of workers in Madison and Ohio and all over the country, but not a single progressive action has been taken.

In order to win, the people are going to have to put progressive politics back into the political system. The only way to win this is to show that we will not support Obama. You can't vote against who you want to win. It's pushing an agenda that's driving this country into the ground. The presidential election of 2012 is already decided. Obama is going to win.

The real answer was seen in the 2000 election. Seeing Nader win probably wouldn't put this country on track, but seeing a country where a majority elects someone like Nader, that's the real answer. Al Gore got less votes and lost because of Nader. You can believe it or you can't. But the truth of the matter is, Al Gore would have been just as bad. None of this is new. We havn't seen a real progressive in decades.



Don't let the guy at 11:20 stare into your soul and steal your progressive dreams. We need to win this. The people need to win this.

We need to focus on the more important duty of recognizing true progressive politicians and putting them into elected office. Work your ass off, because that's the only way we'll win. We can wait for an Abraham Lincoln to emancipate us from this debt, or we can be the change we want to see in society.

And on a day like today, it really brings it home to think about the Civil War and what it tells us about our countries past. We know how a perfect political split violently concludes. And I for one will not be participating. War is the stupidest blunder to ever plague the human race.

The difference between liberals and conservatives.

Original Article

RAWR!!

In the above article, AFP published a study in which 90 young adults, conservative and liberal, agreed to have a brain scan.

Basically it shows, using science, that liberals have more gray area in the part of the brain associated with understanding complexity, and conservatives have a more active fear response. Umm, no shit?

When I think of Gandhi, MLK, Jesus, John Lennon, all the preachers of a universal peace and unity, I see not only great capacity for good deeds, but a complete absence of fear. You're goddamn right Gandhi wasn't afraid. Do you think black people would have equal rights if MLK had decided that he didn't want to risk being assassinated?

The answer is no. MLK shattered the timidness within millions of blacks in the United States. In an alternate universe there is a USA where MLK never existed and there was no civil rights movement. It's important that we realize that he acknowledged the risks of his actions and still chose accordingly. I thank him for everything he did.

This lack of fear that is apparent in these liberal minded heroes is also juxtaposed, quite humorously, against conservatism and its icons.


George W. Bush: Fear Muslims!
Paul Ryan: Fear the Deficit!
Scott Walker: Fear the teachers!

"People with a large amygdala are "more sensitive to disgust" and tend to "respond to threatening situations with more aggression than do liberals and are more sensitive to threatening facial expressions," the study said."

Keeping this in mind, it makes me wonder what conservatives really think Government is for. At one point, it was no government at all. Now its a lot of government, inside doctor's offices and in other countries

I really wonder where the heart of conservative politics is right now. Part of me believes that some of these whackos actually think George W. Bush is protecting them from terrorists, or that Scott Walker is protecting Wisconsin from bankruptcy, or that Paul Ryan and all his "tough decisions" and "courageous" cuts are protecting people from something.

NEWS FLASH: Conservative politicians aren't protecting anyone except the top 1% they represent.

Poor conservative voters :(. But I can understand them, they just respond to fear more than others. It's natural to feel fear when its published in the media so seriously, but democrats understand the complexity of these decisions and conservatives do not. There are simple answers that could turn this country around and they are being ignored. Tell me these don't sound fair.

Tax everyone equally.
Elections should be separated from corporate and private finance
Equal media coverage for all parties in an election
End the drug war, not your body not your problem
end the abortion war, not your body not your problem

And for the record, no federal funding goes to abortions. The only money Planned Parenthood receives from the feds is for basic healthcare.

It's funny because you actually see conservative politics opposing all of these points. Why? Because where there is control over the masses, there is a veil of protection being given by these pseudo-protectors. They are lured into a false sense of security. In reality, none of the social issues impede constitutional liberty and there's no reason for this culture war at all. The "sanctity" of marriage and and value of human life aren't at stake, that is simply brainwashing.

And brainwashing comes with a pricetag. Bush's trillion dollar debt accumulation is the disaster that all governments need to learn from. He protected your church from gays and defended fetuses to the bitter end, and he also emptied the wallet of the middle class at an enormous profit. 690 billion is what his tax cuts cost us.

Paul Ryan is trying to revive Bush's legacy. Bush's plans to privatize health insurance is zombified in Ryan's budget. It would give block grants to states to blindly give money to the "best public option". In other words, the corporation that paid for the elected official. That corporation isn't going to take that money and put it towards healthcare, they're going to pocket 90% of it and as far as the citizens paying 40% more? Tough shit.

Conservatives aren't going to fix deficit because they agree with the two most expensive and failed policies in national history. The drug war and the wars in the middle east. These two, if removed from our budget, would give every citizen in the United States an 950$ check, because that's what it's costing each and every one of us every year. Personally I think that nine fitty could be better spent. New shoes? Q-tips? I dont know, anything.
If government actually did their fucking job and put that money to good use, then we wouldn't be in such a terrible financial situation in the first place. Whenever you see cuts to important programs remember this. Corporations don't pay their fair share of taxes. They just don't. The answer isn't what programs can we cut to save money. It's what corporations can we charge with tax evasion and get our fucking money back?

I understand that some programs are bad and need to be cut big time, but cutting education and healthcare seems to be the most popular.

Tax cuts= program cuts.
Wars=deficits

Relating all this to Obama, it makes you second guess his decisions to arm Libyan rebels, and appoint General Electric CEO Jeffery Immelt as Head of Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Oh I forgot to mention, GE paid 0 taxes on 14 billion dollars in 2009.

Vote democracy, not deficit. Cheers!

America, the disheveled fighting hobo-baby

I would be afraid of this baby, wouldn't you?

You know what my favorite thing about America is? It's that most citizens are patriotic while simultaneously knowing nothing about the constitution. Same with Christians who preach hate and discrimination. All these idiots piss me off. They go out and buy an American flag that's made at a Wal-Mart that's in China, and then throw it away because it's made poorly. Being American, to me, is all about being responsible for your actions. You buy too much shit? You gotta pay for it. George W. Bush wanted for war crimes? He should go to jail.

Our country is in a deficit. The biggest thing killing our economy is bad policy. Spending 1,600 dollars a second on a drug war that doesn't work? Bad policy. Going overseas and spending a trillion dollars we don't have for a country that's not ours? Bad policy; and the biggest problems with this continuous bad policy? Incentives. People are making insane amounts of money off of this bad policy. Bush's oil war for money and then this:

Obama's war with Libya. At least Bush tried to cover it up:

All of this is important. America is extremely young compared to most other cultures in the world. We're just angry whiny babies fighting everything when we get upset. America disagree on civil policy? Civil war. America disagree on foreign policy? Foreign war! America disagree on simple life decisions? Culture war. We just need to learn to accept that we can't control what people will do. If they're not harming anybody, who cares! If its not in our borders, its not our business!

Oil companies get subsidies from the government, and pollute the coast on our tax dollars and none of their responsibility. All of the money given to corporations from tax dollars in promise of jobs, to help the people, has killed the people. We want our money back. Here's how we can do it. Take strong stances on this policy.

Social agenda-You can't enforce morality, but you can enforce equality, end hate crimes. Start pushes for gay rights, cannabis legalization, and acceptable immigration requirements.
Energy policy- End oil depedency, end nuclear dependency. More energy research.
Foreign Affairs - wars are burying us in debt, occupying a country cost lots of $$$
Corporate Tax- corps that dont pay taxes should be jailed, give us our money back for the bailouts and pay your dues.

On all these issues there needs to be a powerful stance made. Progress in a society requires an educated society. Obama is so far right that he shouldn't be on a democratic ticket. He promises things during his campaign, but then delivers corporate backed legislation. He wants more drilling at home with broken drill designs that came from the same oil companies that paid for his campaign.

He's covertly arming the rebels in Libya(even though defense secretary says Defense Secretary gates: No ground troops). And he's giving tax breaks to corporations. Stop drinking the coolaid. Obama hasn't made any headway with important progress from the Bush administration.

Republicans aren't any better. It's all bullshit.

Here's what I want to see in a political candidate.

Moving away from oil, moving away from nuclear, moving towards renewable energy.
Staying WITHIN AMERICA. No more wars, no more bullshit in Libya, or anywhere else.
End the drug war too. In the time it takes you to read this article, the drug war cost tax payers millions of dollars. Tax the corporations. They aren't paying anything right now. That is unacceptable.

Hear is my rallying cry, people. Don't settle for Obama's tragic policy. We can't afford to keep giving 550 million for cruise missiles in Libya. Let's move away from oil, bring the troops home, and fix our deficit by taxing the biggest dodgers in history. Because as of right now, I paid more taxes than GE in 2009; the worst part is they made over 10 million times as much as I did. Tax these wealthy bastards extra even, simply because they don't want to pay.

Put nuclear energy to sleep, Germany is starting it. Stop spending towards more oil dependency. Fund safer energy alternatives. Give the billions in government subsidy to a wind farmer instead, or solar, or both.

Boycott bad companies, its the only justice you'll see during the current administration. Except for Walker's recall, we'll see some justice eventually on that. ;)

Active justice can be done at state level too. Here's a little list that I choose not to shop at in Wisconsin unless I have no other choices. Unless you live in the city, you don't really have other options.


Boycott:
GE-0 tax dollars on 14 billion in profits
Bank of America- 0 tax dollars on 9 billion in profits
Woodmans Food Markets- Contributes and condones Walker's horrific policy
Sendiks Grocery- Contributes Walker's horrific policy
M&I Bank- Contributes and condones Walker's horrific policy
Wal-mart-Contributes to Walker's horrific policy, and also discriminates against female employees

Fox news- They lie. Also, the guy at 1:40 is my FUCKING HERO. People with the power!

And here is what Walker's big campaign donations look like.

PACs, $5000 or more:
-------------------------------------
Concerned Realtors Committee
Realtors PAC
KochPAC Natural Resources
WI Dental PAC (WIDPAC)
People for Rebecca Kleefisch
Building a Better WI/Wisconsin Builders Association
ABCPAC-WIS
Wal-Mart Stores/WAL-PAC
Tavern Industry PAC
Republican Party of Wisconsin
HNTB Holdings Ltd PAC
AT&T Wisconsin Employee PAC (formerly SBC)
Operating Engineers 139 PAC
Republican Party Milwaukee Co
Managed Health Services/Centene PAC
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance
TDS Telecom
WI Credit Union League Action Fund (WCULAF)
Deere & Company PAC - WI
FONEPAC Telecommunications & Computers
Friends of Alberta Darling
Eli Lilly and Company PAC
Friends & Neighbors of Robin Vos
WellPAC Wellpoint Inc
WI Insurance Alliance PAC
WI Pipe Trades PAC


Employers of Contributors of $5000 or more
-----------------------------------------------------
ABC Supply Co
Agrecol Corp
Allen Edmonds Shoes
AMK Concepts & Services
Anew Health Care Services Inc
AO Smith Corp
Apache Stainless Steel
Artisan Partners
Atlantic DQ
Audio Implements/GKC
Badger Meter
Baraboo Growth
Bevco Ergonomic Seating
Blomquist Benefits Consulting
Boerke Co Inc
Bradley Foundation
Brian Retzlaff Trucking
Briggs & Stratton
Burke Properties
Burlington Northern Santa Fe...
Call Solutions
Campbell Wrapper Corp
Carpenter
CD Smith Construction
Chambers & Owen
Charro Restaurante
Charter Manufacturing
Church Mutual Insurance
Cobalt Partners LLC
Commonwealth Development Corp...
Continental Properties Co Inc
County Concrete
Couri Insurance Agency
Custom Pak Products
EBY-Brown Co
Einhorn Associates
Emergency Medicine Specialists
Endeavors Group
Fabco Equipment Inc
Fashion Angels Enterprises
Feather Larson & Synhorst...
Fiduciary Management
First American Funding
Fisher Barton Inc
Glenora Co
GMR Marketing
Gogebic Taconite LLC
Gold Leaf Development
Hal Leonard Publishing
Hammes Co
Harris Associates
Hay Creek Pallett
Heartland Advisors
Hexagon Investments
High Crossing Development Corp
Holton Brothers Construction
Horton Group
Hovde Financial
Hy Cite Corp
I-Robot
Iconica
Inpro Corp
Insight Industries
Irgens Development Partners
Johnson Controls
Johnsonville Foods
JSD Professional Services Inc
Kapur & Associates
KBS Construction
Koss Corp
Krier Foods
Kwik Trip
Lorman Education Services
Lubar & Co
M&I Bank
Meissner, Tierney, et al
Michels Corp
Midwest Neurosurgical
Milksource
MillerCoors
Minnesota Wild
MJ Construction Inc
Morrison Creek Cranberry
Nicholas Company Inc
Nova Surgical LLC
Orthopaedic Associates of...
PACUR
Panduit Corp
Paper Machinery Corp
Payne & Dolan
Pinstripe Inc
Plastic Surgery Group
Prent Corp
Promotions Unlimited
RCI FirstPathway Partners
Reiman Publications
Richardson Industries
Rite Hite Corp
Roehl Transport
Salomon Smith Barney
Sargento Inc
SC Johnson & Sons
Schneider National
School choice
Sendik's Food Market
Shannon Sales Inc
SIG Financial Holdings
Specialty Underwriters
St John Properties Inc
Standard Process Laboratories
Stark Investments
Super Steel Products
Tamarack Petroleum Co
Tankcraft Corp
ThedaCare
Tries & Rice
Uihlein Wilson Architects
US Counseling Service
US Oil Co
V Duane Rath Foundation
Wausau Homes
Wausau Paper
West Allis Salvage
West Bend Clinic
Zenith Tech

Scott Walker, the shit on Wisconsins' boots

In December of 2010, I started following politics. I knew the election in Wisconsin would be important because it came down to a decision of train, or no train. Personally, I am all for the train, we're the only industrialized nation without a high speed rail. Our infrastructure lags behind, our education lags behind, our exports lag behind, our innovation lags behind, our energy policy lags behind, but hey we're involved in Libya now too. America, we're good at war, and guns, and eating, thats about it.

First thing Walker does in his tyrannic rule is give 140 million to corporate welfare. Cool, more money for corporations promising jobs, just what taxpayer money should be going to. OH WAIT. Corporate welfare is the reason we're in debt in the first place, all of us. You can thank GE and Bank of America among others. But back to the shitstain.

Then, the internet found his Budget Repair Bill. Aside from being a "budget" bill, that usually gets passed in 1 or 2 weeks, this bill highlighted such a massive lack of government transparency. Half of this bill wasn't about the budget at all. In fact, the bill was so outrageous, that it sparked the biggest protest in Wisconsin history.

This bill was so fucking ridiculous that the protestors in Madison received international aid from over 15 different countries, and all 49 other states in the form of pizza. Really good pizza? Yes. International Solidarity? Yes!

Walker doesn't care though. He doesn't care about Wisconsin, he doesn't care about it's people, and he's in an extremely powerful position. International and bi-partisan opposition to the bill? FUCK IT, DO IT ANYWAY, EVEN THOUGH ITS ILLEGAL.

So that's what they did. They found a loophole in Wisconsins' legislature and passed the collective bargaining sections of the bill without the democrats even being there.

No worries though, that's illegal, isn't it? Yes, it is, or at least multiple Wisconsin judges and lawyers came forward publicly to say so.

But according to Walker, the biggest priority in fixing the budget is making sure public employees have no say in the workplace. What's important is getting Wisconsin's budget fixed.
"Public sector, shh!"

News flash, Wiconsin's budget and unemployment are in better shape than most of the country. Why is he stirring a panic? Maybe so republicans have another "make the hard choices" nipple to suck on. More bullshit? You got it.

Here's where it gets tricky.
First, you have the initial restraining order to halt the collective bargaining bill. Then, you have WI. Sen. Fitzgerald saying Do it anyway!
After that, you have Judge Sumi saying "Hey Idiot, you can't do that, i'm a judge" And then, Walker's administration is like, WOAH. Judges lolwhat? SUCK IT SUMI MUAHAHA

Ignoring all his corrupt campaign funding. Ignoring his serious lack of policy success. Ignoring his illegal attempts at a Wisconsin monarchy, all of that ignored. I just don't know what's gonna happen next.

This isn't a fucking soap opera. This is hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin people being victimized by a tyrannic leader. The difference between democracy and a monarchy is that in a democracy, we can cut the kings balls off. Fuck you Scott Walker. We want to wait and recall you but you're not giving us very many options here. You're lucky we follow the law, but keep pushing our buttons and see what happens, I double dare you mother fucker.

Full legalization, sexy or harmful?

Chick photo Source

The thumbnail above, HB 1550 is set to legalize cannabis in all forms in July 2013. Adults over 21 would be able to purchase cannabis in liquor stores in Washington state. Tax revenue would be taken from the sale and put directly into the states healthcare.

The biggest problem to me(among many) is that the 10th amendment doesn't actually protect the state from the federal level of government. The constitution clearly states that government can regulate commerce(Thanks, Hoam). Selling cannabis at liquor stores would be considered commerce, so the whole state would be victim to the backwardness of the DEA and their outdated regulation, even if all the money is going to healthcare. So until we see the federal schedule changed, there will be a threat from the DEA. We all do what we can though. Politicians change laws in their state, I complain and rant on my blog, we all just strive for a mutual understanding.

As a Wisconsin resident, I am truly jealous. How is it that Washington is going through such incredible and groundbreaking social, economic, and cultural change, and yet here in Wisconsin we're stuck with Scott Walker for another 9 months. This is bullshit!

How is it that someone can get elected, fail at everything he promised, break the law doing the opposite of what he promised, how is it that someone can do all of these things and still have supporters? That's Wisconsin politics for you. I have to imagine if Walker had been elected in Washington, they would have said. "No bitch" and recalled on day one. Walker would have went home and gotten yelled at by his son for continuing to push shitty policy.

I feel bad for people in Washington State, though. It's a toss up whether they'll feel safer being victim only to federal level, instead of local, state, and federal. Less people will be arrested to allow more pursuit of the American dream, but will the DEA pull shenanigans?

What I do know is that it's going to take an understanding for constitutional law at a massive scale that I HOPE people are ready for.

Shady House Publishing Company has released a book: The Case of US v. Yerbas: free the weed — There will be cursing. I just ordered a copy myself and friended the Author on facebook. His blog is brilliant. The intent of his book is to promote the understanding of due process in such a way that people know that Marijuana prohibition is unconstitutional.

And that's a goal we can drink (or smoke) to! (even if Scott Walker wont)

Germany set to abandon nuclear Power

Original Article

Summary:

As a result of the Fukushima Dai-ichi disaster in Japan, Germany has taken 7 of its 17 nuclear reactors down.

"If we had the winds of Texas or the sun of California, the task here would be even easier," said Felix Matthes of Germany's renowned Institute for Applied Ecology. "Given the great potential in the U.S., it would be feasible there in the long run too, even though it would necessitate huge infrastructure investments."

In Germany, the producers of renewable energy — be it solar panels on a homeowner's rooftop or a farm of wind mills — are paid above-market prices to make sure their investment breaks even, financed by a 3.5 cents per kilowatt-hour tax paid by all electricity customers.

For a typical German family of four who pay about euro1,000 ($1,420) a year to use about 4,500 kilowatt-hours, the tax amounts to euro157 ($223).

The tax produced euro8.2 billion ($11.7 billion) in Germany in 2010 and it is expected to top euro13.5 billion ($19.2 billion) this year. The program — which has been copied by other countries and several U.S. states such as California — is the backbone of the country's transition toward renewable energies.

This is the quintessential example of an industrialized country doing exactly what is necessary to progress into cleaner energy. Go Germany! Maybe America will get out of a war finally, and we'll be able to focus on ourselves, for once.