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Comment on Gasland by S. Wilson "TXsharon"

S. Wilson "TXsharon" — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:32:44 +0000

61 of 75 people found the following review helpful

If this is our bridge fuel we won't go far!, December 14, 2010

S. Wilson "TXsharon" (Decatur, TX USA) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Gasland (DVD)

Josh Fox's GASLAND is an entertaining, high energy piece of art that will make you laugh and leave you terrified. Fox traveled across the country and through the gas patches in his old Camry with nothing but his curiosity, ample passion and a camera. Watching GASLAND is an interactive experience; you will laugh, cry, shake your head in disbelief, curse and marvel at the triumph of the human spirit. If this film doesn't make you think about the future and motivate you to action, check your pulse.

I live on top of the Barnett Shale and for six years now I have blogged about the devastating effects of natural gas extraction. Everything in GASLAND, I have witnessed firsthand and captured in video and photographs on my blog.

Natural gas is not a clean energy, and if this is our bridge fuel, we aren't going far. It's another dirty fossil fuel that creates massive amounts of toxic and radioactive waste for which industry has no plan. They are spreading this waste on our farmland, dumping it in streams and ditches and burying it in fields. The water use is simply not sustainable and our surface and groundwater is being contaminated. The emissions make natural gas worse for the climate than coal--now that's BAD!

We can decide now to go forward and build a sustainable world where our children will have a future or continue to beat the hydrocarbon energy dead horse to the ruination of our vital natural resources.

TXsharon - Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS

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Comment on Gasland by OzarkTroutBum

OzarkTroutBum — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:24:33 +0000

79 of 98 people found the following review helpful

Important!, November 5, 2010

OzarkTroutBum -

This review is from: Gasland (DVD)

This is one of the most important films of the decade. It reveals the incredibly dirty and destructive side of "clean burning natural gas." From Josh Fox's living room in Pennsylvania begins a journey to Arkansas, Texas, Wyoming and beyond. No matter where the story carries him, the view is always the same with a repeated pattern of toxic chemicals, contaminated water, mysterious foul smells and above all, worry and frustration of the citizens forced to live in GasLand everyday.
The people featured in the film become your friends, you cannot help but like them. They share their stories and you will find yourself searching the internet to learn more of the injustice being delivered on them at the hands of corporations who consider them to be part of a sacrifice zone and their elected leaders busy looking the other way as they accept millions of dollars in campaign contributions.
Though a dark and gloomy subject you do get a taste of Josh Fox's wry sense of humor and marvel at the ability of the people in the film to still manage a smile despite what is happening to them and thousands more like them.
See this film. It will leave you with the sense that this is just plain wrong and you will have to ask yourself, what can I do about it?

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Comment on Inside Job (2010) by PJR

PJR — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:22:54 +0000

198 of 208 people found the following review helpful

Great must-see documentary, October 30, 2010

PJR (Minneapolis, Minnesota United States) -

This review is from: Inside Job (DVD)

Inside Job is a great documentary on an extremely important topic. It drags out a lot of hanky-panky dirty laundry and points out a lot of lies and stupidity -- and the tempers will flare of the ideologues who helped get us into the current economic crisis/mess, but so be it. It also can give the average intelligent person a foot in the door to understanding the world in which we live and the background for the financial crisis, that in my considered opinion is not yet over. In fact no end is in sight. Only the shape of the slippery slope is uncertain.

I have looked into this quite a bit, and at first I thought it was going to be simply a super sort of Frontline documentary with great photography of Iceland American cities, etc. that integrated well with the interviews and narration.

I think though, that in the end they did a very nice job and there was a freshness to bringing together even the many facts that have been published here and there over the last few years.

I especially appreciated their preciseness about the clear warnings of the impending economic "tsunami" from respected scholars and the International Monetary Fund and European Finance Ministers and how these were brushed aside by the old-boy network of Washington and Wall Street. As they sing in the Opera Evita, "When the money keeps rolling in, you don't keep books." There were more warnings than they presented in the film. I would have included those by Kevin Phillips for example. But the film had enough to make its points.

I also very much appreciated that they brought out the really terrible conflicts of interest among professional academic economists at universities. They did not go deep enough for my tastes, but at least they got into it. In fact they could also have gotten into the very selective use of mathematics in academic economics, by these economics professors that get fat checks from the finances industry, in building idealistic models that can have too little to do with the real world. Instead the film focused on the cozy relationships between professors of economics, universities, and Big Money. They left out that university administrators love to see cozy relationships with business because it brings in money and connections and fame.

It was very interesting to watch big faces on the big screen as they were caught in their evasions and lies. Very well practiced people!! Usually not a flicker of guilt. Though a few did at times show nervousness when they were being caught.

After the film some of us discussed how it was possible that some of these culpable executives could have agreed to go on camera when they were so vulnerable. My theory is that they have gotten to where they are because they are smooth talkers. And they are egotistically self-confident that they can answer or deflect any questions. Moreover they are not used to giving interviews with media that has done its homework. In this respect I give the film makers credit for doing their homework.

The film did a nice job of tracing the origins of the crisis to the deregulation policies of the Reagan administration in the early 1980s and what became the permanent installation of Big Money ideologues and players into the highest levels of government. They could have said more about how difficult it would have been to reverse these policies and undo the networks that were brought into power. They could have said more about why banking interests were able to sell their ideologies to the American people. But one cannot include everything. There was already a lot to chew on.

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Comment on Gasland by jeaniebeanie "reviewer"

jeaniebeanie "reviewer" — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:56:11 +0000

141 of 169 people found the following review helpful

What Have We Done?, November 12, 2010

jeaniebeanie "reviewer" (New York City, USA) -

This review is from: Gasland (DVD)

When you watch Josh Fox's brilliant GASLAND, it's as if you're watching a nightmare scenario of what would happen if our lands were taken over by evil aliens, intent on sucking the earth dry, regardless of the consequences to the planet--and to us. This is no sci-fi thriller that could never happen in real life, however. Shockingly, it IS really happening and it's worse than you can imagine.

Very fortunately, for all of us, Josh Fox, brave soul that he is, ventured out into the heart of America and into the small towns of this country to actually speak to regular, law abiding, tax paying citizens who are now paying the ultimate price for "clean" gas drilling with permanent health effects, including brain damage, chronic respiratory conditions and many other serious conditions, too numerous to mention. Their land is worthless, their water undrinkable. The now famous scene where the tap water actually bursts into flame is just the tip of the iceburg. The epidemic of hydrofracking now taking place in America is worse than any disease we've ever encountered. It destroys our water, our air, our animals, our vegetation (including farm crops), our livestock, our health and our lives. This is Three Mile Island, Love Canal and Chernobyl--times fifty.

GASLAND should be shown in every elementary, high school and college classroom. At least that way, when our children grow into adults, they will know why there is no such thing anymore as fresh water in America. And they will know who was responsible.

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Comment on Inside Job (2010) by Joe V

Joe V — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:37:54 +0000

226 of 233 people found the following review helpful

Epic revelations about Wall Street; mandatory viewing, October 28, 2010

Joe V (San Diego CA USA) -

This review is from: Inside Job (DVD)

For anyone interested in knowing what caused the bottom to fall out of our financial sector and economy to the tune of trillions (shouldn't that be all of us?), Ferguson takes a complicated topic and spells it out in an intriguing, understandable and methodical way. We knew things were awry; but this really blows the lid off the deal. I don't think this is what the Founding Fathers had in mind...a billion-dollar cabal with club members including the upper echelons of Wall St, Washington and academia.

Nice blend of Matt Damon's narration and the interviews. Definitely riveting...and troubling. Even distressing and disturbing for those who have suffered as a result of the financial collapse. Unlike many documentaries that conclude with some specific 'calls for action', "Inside Job" leave viewers awestruck and without a laundry list of what to do or who to call. In any case, very well done and highly recommended. Also, keep an eye on the large and impressive list of those who declined to be interviewed. Their silence was deafening.

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Comment on Inside Job (2010) by Domenico Rosa

Domenico Rosa — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:25:25 +0000

556 of 570 people found the following review helpful

A must-see movie, October 19, 2010

Domenico Rosa -

This review is from: Inside Job (DVD)

This priceless documentary presents a devastating expose of the staggering Wall Street swindle that caused the economic meltdown of 2008. The interview with Martin Feldstein brought back to mind the hoopla of his appointment as chief economic adviser to President Reagan. The movie points out that Feldstein initiated the financial deregulation follies that led to the looting of the Savings and Loans and culminated with the passage of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, the lead sponsor of which was Senator Phil Gramm. It was truly depressing to see how this massive swindle was pulled off through the collusion of the economic advisers, politicians, high-flown professors of economics with scandalous and highly unethical conflicts-of-interest, investment banks, and ratings agencies. At the end of "Inside Job," Robert Gnaizda lists various groups that should be prosecuted. When asked why this has not been done, he answered: "It's a Wall Street government!"

Some of the topics in the movie were covered in the FRONTLINE broadcast "Inside the Meltdown" and in the FRONTLINE broadcast "The Warning." The latter exposed how Brookley Born was sabotaged by Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin and Larry Summers--the Troika that is directly responsible for the massive fraud perpetrated by the Wall Street crowd.

It is reassuring to see that some members of Congress were competent. Senator Byron Dorgan (D. North Dakota) voted against his own party, predicting that the repeal of Glass-Steagall would lead to massive taxpayer bailouts. On 19 September 2009, Senator Dorgan was interviewed by Scott Simon on "Weekend Edition Saturday." The following is from the transcript at:

<
But what I said is I think within a decade we're going to see massive taxpayer bailouts. I didn't necessarily know that for sure but it turns out my prognostication was a pretty expensive lesson. Because it made no sense that we should repeal Glass-Steagall and the protections that were put in place after the Great Depression.

And the result of that, in my judgment, was to steer this economy into the ditch and cause a significant economic wreck that's going to take us some time to get out of.

SIMON: The timing is something that intrigues me, 'cause you said this in 1999, whereas you note your party was in party.

Sen. DORGAN: Uh-huh. Well, but let me just say to you that the legislation that was passed by the Congress was called Gramm-Leach-Bliley--all three Republicans. Phil Gramm--those three Republicans led the approach. It was Republican legislation but warmly embraced by President Clinton, Secretary of Treasury Rubin and so on.

But I was one of eight U.S. senators that went to the floor of the Senate repeatedly in opposition to what they were doing. And, you know, as I said, I made some prognostications and say if we do this we're going to see massive taxpayer bailouts in the future.

And unfortunately, that has been the case.>>

"Inside Job" goes much deeper in exposing the extensive unethical conduct and shameless conflicts-of-interest of so many professors of economics, especially Frederic Mishkin, a governor at the Federal Reserve until August 2008 and now at Columbia University. According to the movie, he co-authored a fraudulent paper "The Stability of Icelandic Banks," without divulging that he had been paid $124,000 by the Iceland Chamber of Commerce to write it. In his current list of publications, he has changed the title to "The Instability ..." John Campbell, the chairman of Harvard's department of economics is left speechless--with a bewildered facial expression--when he is asked about the conflicts-of-interest of his department members.

How can anyone believe anything that is published by economists?

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Comment on Child Labour and Sweatshops Report Part 1 by [BLOCKED BY STBV] Child Labour and Sweatshops Part 3

[BLOCKED BY STBV] Child Labour and Sweatshops Part 3 — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:49:28 +0000

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[BLOCKED BY STBV] Clean Energy Fuel What Are They? — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 23:29:27 +0000

[...] g/kWhGeothermalRenewableNone CO2 Emissions By Fuel All of the fuels listed in the table above are all better [...]

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[BLOCKED BY STBV] Clean Energy Fuel What Are They? — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 23:20:01 +0000

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[BLOCKED BY STBV] Clean Energy Fuel What Are They? — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:54:11 +0000

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Comment on Sunforce 11260 2500 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter by B. Seals

B. Seals — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 10:41:56 +0000

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

very good 2500 watt inverter, May 28, 2011

B. Seals -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Sunforce 11260 2500 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter (Misc.)

if you need something for a 12V system in my opinion this inverter rocks. you can see it in action on a vid i posted on youtube ( ... ) it can be hardwired in to get full output at one connection, it runs at its rated output and more imo. It can run big 8foot fluorescent lights in my garage, desktop, refrigerator and still can handle my BIG 2000 watt microwave when i turn it on, but trust me the fans will scream with that load goin heheh .. i know my electronics, this inverter is a steal .. dont expect perfection though, the power isnt ultimate clean. I didnt have any real issues with the cleaness of the power except with one thing, the ups on my pc would reset occasionally and cause my desktop to shutdown .. direct wall plugging everything solved that i just dont use the ups with it now. My laptop works fine, desktop works fine directly plugged to the wall, my digital clocks, digital microwave, chargers including high tech rc model chargers - everything - works just fine on it. I have it hooked to 8 215AH golfcart bats with 4/0 cable (dont skimp on the power cable if you want full output)i have a second one on order so i can divide up my loads for my whole house and i would recommend this inverter to anyone that has a 12V system.

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Comment on Sunforce 11260 2500 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter by Milton Dopp

Milton Dopp — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 10:17:01 +0000

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

Works Great, March 28, 2009

Milton Dopp -

This review is from: Sunforce 11260 2500 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter (Misc.)

I hooked up the inverter to (2) 55 A.H. deep cycle batteries in parallel and it ran my pellet stove, 32" LCD TV and Satellite receiver for (4) hours before giving me a low battery warning. This is a very quiet running unit and the LCD display allows you to monitor you battery condition at any time. I am very pleased with this unit.

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Comment on Sunforce 11260 2500 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter by FrogThinker "manu"

FrogThinker "manu" — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 10:07:16 +0000

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

Good price but unreliable and no auto-resume on alarms, January 23, 2011

FrogThinker "manu" (MA USA) -

This review is from: Sunforce 11260 2500 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter (Misc.)

** UPDATE **: The 2nd unit fried as well. Big smoke came out of it, hopefully nothing was hooked to it when this happened. It looks like a very unreliable product.

If you are looking for a 2500W true sine wave power inverter, this is probably the cheapest and it will do a decent job as long as you don't have appliances that require a big peak wattage for starting a motor.
The main annoying feature is that if your input voltage gets too high (>14.5V) or too low (<11.5V), the unit will get into alarm mode and keep beeping until you power cycle it. The unit never resumes automatically when the voltage comes back to normal.
If you have wind turbines, they typically output 14.7V on wind gusts and the unit will constantly go into alarm during storms. You then have to constantly turn the unit off and on to get it back online.
The remote just does not work if the unit went into alarm mode which makes it pretty much useless.
Also the first unit I got fried during the first week. I have been running the new unit for about 6 months (connected to solar panels and wind turbines) and it still works (despite the alarm problem).

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Comment on Man Made Disasters List Causes And Effects of Man Made Environmental Disasters Part 1 by [BLOCKED BY STBV] Mountaintop Removal Mining Man Made Disasters Causes and Effects Part 3

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Comment on Healing Foods: Broccoli Health Benefits Revealed by Cancer Fighting Foods List Fruits and Vegetables

Cancer Fighting Foods List Fruits and Vegetables — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:17:51 +0000

[...] hexaphosphate, a form of B vitamin that is a cancer fighter.2. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli health benefits, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower nutrition contains D-glucaric acid, which is an anti-cancer [...]

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Comment on Solar Power Advantages and Disadvantages Explained by Renewable and Non Renewable Energy Sources Explained

Renewable and Non Renewable Energy Sources Explained — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:45:31 +0000

[...] and get killed. Advancements in technologies are helping to solve or minimize these issues.SolarSolar energy has been used by humans since the beginning of mankind I would imagine. There are three types of [...]