Saving the World for a Latte

wouldn't it be a better idea to charge people for garbage instead of paying them to recycle?

PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE TO BE HELD SUNDAY AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

The Free and Equal Elections Coalition (FREE) and the Columbia Political Union are pleased to announce that a Presidential debate will be held this coming Sunday, October 19th, 2008, on the campus of Columbia University.

ALL SIX of the Presidential candidates who appear on enough state ballots to acquire the 270 Electoral Votes needed to become President are invited. They are as follows (listed in alphabetical order by affiliation):

Constitution Party Candidate: Chuck Baldwin
Democratic Party Candidate: Barack Obama
Green Party Candidate: Cynthia McKinney
Independent Candidate: Ralph Nader
Libertarian Party Candidate: Bob Barr
Republican Party Can John McCain

The Columbia Political Union will present the debate from 8:00pm to 10:00pm in the Altschul Auditorium, located at 417 International Affairs Building. The debate will be moderated by Pacifica Radio's Amy Goodman, the host of "Democracy Now!". CSPAN will cover the debate, and live radio broadcasts are expected.

"The Columbia Political Union is committed to energizing political discourse on Columbia's campus," said Allon Brann, Columbia Political Union Publisher. "As a non-partisan organization, we work to provide students with opportunities to encounter and engage with political ideas across a wide ideological spectrum, and on a wide range of issues."

"It is with these goals in mind that we have organized this Presidential Debate: to give all candidates-- either within or outside of the political "mainstream"-- the opportunity to speak directly to students about their goals on the issues they deem critical for this country."

"We have invited all eligible candidates, and it is our sincere hope that all will participate, to ensure the substance and rigor of the dialogue which we believe is crucial at this time."

Certified letters officially inviting each candidate have been sent to the respective campaigns.

The Free and Equal Elections Coalition and the Columbia Political Union await the response from the candidates. All candidates' supporters are encouraged to contact the Presidential campaigns and urge them to attend.

The Columbia Political Union seeks to enhance involvement in the political process, domestic and international, and draw every member of the campus community into an ongoing discussion of political ideas.

FREE is a coalition of political parties, independent citizens and civic organizations formed to promote free and equal elections in the United States.

http://www.freeandequal.org/events.php?id=7

FREEDOM ISN'T FREE

Please remove the off-topic and libelous post by "Newsweekisgarbage." It is not even plausible that Obama could have remained a hardworking, eloquent Harvard-educated lawyer while smoking crack--an addiction no one takes up as a weekend hobby.

Please remove the off-topic & libelous post by "Newsweekisgarbage." It's not believable that Obama was smoking crack in 1999 and speaking coherently as the Harvard-educated lawyer he is--no one just smokes crack on the weekends and even he doesn't have enough extra brain cells to waste them on crack and still appear lucid.

i try to be green, i really do. but i can't get my dh to cooperate enthusiastically. he says the recycle stuff goes in the trash anyway' they do it when they dump the trucks. i don't believe that but he's so convinced that people who believe in recycling are brainwashed that he actually says he wants to be 'part of the problem not the solution' so he can use everything up before he dies. i'm doing my best, but it's possible his ignorance is cancelling out my contribution.

The town that I live in no longer picks up reclycling from homes. Instead there is one recycling facility that takes recycling without rewards- which is fine. I have been trying to convince my family that recycling is important. I consider myself to be a "tree hugger" and think that it is good to take care of our earth. I think that it is a great idea to reward people for recyling. That is probably the only way I could get my husband to stop sneaking recyclables into our garbage can.

HELLO TIME TO BRING PRICES DOWN DOWN DOWN, IF YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BUY; IF THEY DO NOT LOWER PRICES, ITS GOING TO BE A VERY BUMPY RIDE..................................SENIORS HOLD ON TO YOUR HATS......OH BY THE WAY, WHO EVER BECOMES PRESIDENT....WE DO NOT WANT SOCIAL SECURITY PRIVITIZED....IF YOU CAN BAIL OUT WALL STREET AND THEIR CEO'S AND THE BANKS...YOU CAN HELP THE SENIORS.....

Actually, the more I think about it -- I'm not sure which irritates me more: the idea that people have to be paid to recycle when it truly is a civic duty, or the generalization/misrepresentation of the midwest.

While I think this program is great, I continue to take issue with the attitude that the east coast is more progressive or better than the rest of the country. As a transplanted Wisconsinite, where we have long prided ourselves on responsible stewardship of the earth (hello? Aldo Leopold? John Muir? Gaylord Nelson? Earth Day!), I went from a city where they have been recycling newspapers curbside with a 96% success rate since the 60s, to the state of Massachusetts where I have continually had to cajole my new friends into recycling. And Massachusetts has bottle and can deposits! In Wisconsin, I once lived in a small farm town outside of a city of 2000 people, where there was no curbside pickup. My fellow residents and I took our trash to the dump and happily sorted it at the well-used recycling depot there, and one could even compost with the rest of the community. So I take issue with a blanket assessment of midwestern values in your article. You can't imagine how disappointed I was to see the excitement surrounding 20-30% recycling compliance in Massachusetts. Please, people -- we can and must do better.

I loved this article. The little rural town I live in in South Texas has no recyling, yet the town 8 miles to our south does. I hope that this plan spreads and grows. I have brought my own grocery bags to the store for 12 years or more. I do what I can but it should would be nice to participate in a program like this.

The awareness that recycling is good for all of us deos not seem to exist in much of the South. Local goverments make it difficult. They require a separate container for recycles and often refuse to accept glass or plastic. Recycle pick up is on a different day from regular garbage and usually only picked up once a month. Often they are not picked up which requires that the full bin be stored another month. Efforts to put a deposit on bottles to encourage are usually voted down by short sighted politicians. Recycling centers are almost nonexistant in many Souther cities. Here in Nashville we used to have many places to recycle but the city has closed most of them. The curbside recycling program is voluntary so many people do not participate and will not accept glass and many plastics. Landfill operators pay off politicians to stop recycling programs.

To Hrothgari999 From the West Coast we spend time gathering, driving to out of the way places, inconvenient yes the right thing to do yes. "we in da South is just a bunch of dumb redneck cuntry bumkins to y'all" not my first thought, but if you say so.

I think this program sounds great, however I'm interested in how widespread they plan to be. There are recycling programs in the area I live in, but ony for in-town residents. Perhaps that is the true problem with the southerners not recycling.. (not that they are too fat to recycle as mikeinla suggests) I live 8 miles outside of town, a recycling truck does not come anywhere near my house. The nearest recycling center is over 15 miles away. While that does not make for a horrible trip, I try to combine my trips to "town" in order to cut down on gas usage, which is very difficult when your car is full of multiple recycling containers. I can't seem to be able to cram those and groceries at the same time into my vehicle.

I live in the South--Alabama. My family and I try to recycle, but it is very difficult finding recycling centers here. I would absolutley love this program.

I see the benefit, but at the same time... won't this just encourage consumerism? Instead of using a reuasable water bottle, people would be turning to recyclable plastic bottles so they could get more points? Instead of taking the first, and most important, step of "reduce" and ignoring "reuse" as well, now they are promoting the last resort for environmentalism. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle are in that order for a reason! It makes me sad that it is seen as a good step forward to have people recycle, which is incredibly simple (especially with co-mingling), when there are so many more important things we can be focusing on beyond that.

I see the benefit, but at the same time... won't this just encourage consumerism? Instead of using a reuasable water bottle, people would be turning to recyclable plastic bottles so they could get more points? Instead of taking the first, and most important, step of "reduce" and ignoring "reuse" as well, now they are promoting the last resort for environmentalism. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle are in that order for a reason! It makes me sad that it is seen as a good step forward to have people recycle, which is incredibly simple (especially with co-mingling), when there are so many more important things we can be focusing on beyond that.

here in MI I have to pay $4 extra a month to recycle. we are trying to go green, planting native plants. saving so we can put on solar panels and a wind turbine in a few years. being paid instead of having to pay would be great!!! samantha