Renewable Energy News: Listen Up: Vampires Sucking Power from your House

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Listen Up: Vampires Sucking Power from Your House
The Energy Show on Renewable Energy World
July 29, 2015 |
	Here’s a nightmare for you: at night, when you’re asleep and you think things are quiet, there are vampires sucking power out of your house and increasing your electric bill. The fact of the matter is that every plugged in electrical device in your home uses a small amount of standby power -- even if you think these devices are off Full Article

US Clean Power Plan Could Include Carbon Trading
Mark Drajem, Bloomberg
July 30, 2015 |
	Some businesses that back President Barack Obama’s plan to curb greenhouse gases are making a late lobbying push to add an element similar to a cap-and-trade program. With the administrat... Full Article

PACE Finance Opening Doors for C&I Solar In California
Susan Kraemer, Correspondent
July 30, 2015 |
	With its excellent renewable policy, California leads the nation in solar. Over the years both the Renewable Portfolio Standard and the California Solar Initiative

VVVV

Toyota settlement check was returned when I tried to deposit it. I was dinged $25 in returned check fee. What are my rights?

Toyota settlement check was returned when I tried to deposit it. I was dinged $25 in returned check fee. What are my rights?

I am an American who is currently abroad doing my PhD research. My family told me a couple months ago that I received a check from a Toyota settlement case (small amount of money). I emailed the contact athttp://www.toyotaelsettlement.com/ about possibly having them re-issue the check and either have them send it to me abroad OR to have them re-issue the check with a later expiration date than August 2015 (as I planned to return to the USA in September for 1 month so might be able to deposit the check at that time). Someone responded to my email a few days later who said re-issue of checks can take 1-3 months and on a rolling basis so there was no guarantee I'd get the re-issued check during my short visit back to the USA. Mailing it to me abroad was also problematic as I was using the embassy address so mail takes much longer (up to 4-6 weeks) to get here.

The check was issued by Bank of the West and it expires August 17, 2015. I finally contacted my bank a couple weeks ago with the dilemma. They said my family can mail the check to the bank for me and write "For deposit only" on the back. Great! I asked my family to do just that.

My bank deposited the check... and then a week later took away the money and charged me $25 in returned check fee. I was told that the bank account was closed! I just emailed the Toyota settlement team about what the hell happened. Hope to hear back soon, but want to know what are my rights? Can I get them to reimbursement the returned check fee as well?

Note: http://www.toyotaelsettlement.com/ does mention re-issuing checks with a March void date. My check had an August expiration date so I don't think they re-issued me a new check. I think my parents would have informed me if I received a new check from them in the mail. However, maybe this is a possibility and they did not update their website... who knows? Just emailed them and will wait. Wish I could call, but currently on vacation in another country as well and access to phones is difficult for me.

What are my rights? Would the resettlement team be responsible for reimbursing my $25 in returned check fee charged by my bank? I am just upset that this whole thing happened to me.

TL;DR: Tried to deposit a Toyota settlement check a couple months after receiving it, but before it's expiration date in August. My bank told me the check's bank account is now closed. My bank took away the check amount + $25 in returned check fee. Just emailed them, but can I get them to pay me back the $25 in returned check fee too?

http://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/3f9j8v/toyota_settlement_check_was_returned_when_i_tried/

RSN: Nuclear Zero Lawsuit by Marshall Islands Appealed to Higher Court

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FOCUS: Jane Ayers | Nuclear Zero Lawsuit by Marshall Islands Appealed to Higher Court 
 
Jane Ayers, Reader Supported News 
Ayers writes: "Desmond Tutu states lawsuit 'good for humanity,' and all U.S. mayors agree in Resolution to back the nuclear disarmament lawsuit." 
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CounterCurrents: U.S. vs. Iraq: 25 Years And Counting, Obama's “Safe Zone” In Syria Will Inflame The War Zone, Paradise Burning: Why We All Need To Learn The Word “Anthropogenic”, Obama And The Sheep Dog Syndrome

Dear Friend,

If you think the content of this news letter is critical for the dignified living and survival of humanity and other species on earth, please forward it to your friends and spread the word. It's time for humanity to come together as one family! You can subscribe to our news letter here http://www.countercurrents.org/subscribe.htm. You can also follow us on twitter,http://twitter.com/countercurrents and on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/countercurrents

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Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org


U.S. vs. Iraq: 25 Years And Counting 
By Mickey Z.

http://www.countercurrents.org/mickeyz310715.htm

While Aug. 6, of course, marks the 70th anniversary of the nuking of Hiroshima, it also marks a quarter-century since the U.S. war against Iraq was initially launched. For most people -- particularly willfully ignorant anti-war activists -- the starting date for the war in Iraq is March 19, 2003. However, to accept that date is to put far too much blame on one party and one president. A more accurate and useful starting date is Aug. 6, 1990 when -- at the behest of the United States -- the United Nations Security Council imposed murderous sanctions upon the people of Iraq


Retributive Justice Is Injustice, Your Lordships 
By Samar

http://www.countercurrents.org/samar310715.htm

Yakub Memon is dead and gone. It is just that his death has brought the debate on capital punishment back on the table and it is time the civil society makes a final push for its abolishment. If it fails, there will, from time to time, be dramatic midnight hearings that make the system look superficially like a just one. And the legal murders following pretentious hearings will not stop


Execution To Satisfy The ‘Hurt Ego’Of A Divided Society 
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

http://www.countercurrents.org/rawat310715.htm

Seriously speaking one has to understand whether retribution has ever helped any one or not. In the criminal justice system focus is too much on the ‘accused’ but no effort is made to help the ‘victims’. It is the victims who suffer and have to endure the pain for life but for the power it is the shortest route that once you ‘punish’ the ‘accused’ justice is done and case is closed. Ordinary people will not ask so many questions as an atmosphere is created around the accused hence forgetting their own pain they too feel once retribution is done, justice is done


Obama's “Safe Zone” In Syria Will Inflame The War Zone 
By Shamus Cooke

http://www.countercurrents.org/cooke310715.htm

The road to war is paved with a thousand lies. A fresh fib was tossed on the lie-cluttered war path to Syria, when it was announced that the U.S. and Turkey would create a “safe zone” inside of Syria — supposedly to be aimed against ISIS. This “safe zone” is a major escalation of war, but it was described in soft tones by the media. In reality a “safe zone” is a “no-fly zone,” meaning that a nation is planning to implement military air superiority inside the boundaries of another nation. It's long recognized by the international community and U.S. military personnel as a major act of war. In a war zone an area is made “safe” by destroying anything in it or around that appears threatening


Revolting World 
By Robert J. Burrowes

http://www.countercurrents.org/burrowes310715.htm

There is much that is revolting about the current world and Andre Vltchek, Christopher Black and Peter Koenig are well placed to document it, which they have done in their new book 'The World Order and Revolution! Essays from the Resistance'


Paradise Burning: Why We All Need To Learn The Word “Anthropogenic” 
By Subhankar Banerjee

http://www.countercurrents.org/banerjee310715.htm

The wettest rainforest in the continental United States had gone up in flames and the smoke was so thick, so blanketing, that you could see it miles away. Deep in Washington's Olympic National Park, the aptly named Paradise Fire, undaunted by the dampness of it all, was eating the forest alive and destroying an ecological Eden. In this season of drought across the West, there have been far bigger blazes but none quite so symbolic or offering quite such grim news. It isn't the size of the fire (though it is the largest in the park's history), nor its intensity. It's something else entirely -- the fact that it shouldn't have been burning at all. When fire can eat a rainforest in a relatively cool climate, you know the Earth is beginning to burn. And here's the thing: the Olympic Peninsula is my home. Its destruction is my personal nightmare and I couldn't stay away


Roaring Nature: A Call For Personal Change 
By Mir Faizan Anwar

http://www.countercurrents.org/anwar310715.htm

Everything that surrounds us has purposeful balance. From tiny organisms that go unnoticed to giant mammals, microflora to mighty trees, deep oceans to towering mountains, there is a manner and framework. Space with unimaginable celestial bodies, the sun and the moon have perfection. In this puzzling universe, humans curiously have a significant position, top among creatures’ list, the cream and jugular vein. However, this wayward human has openly defied nature, looted its resources and left it screaming. It looks difficult to come out of bars and cages of greediness unless we introspect and understand the purpose of life


Obama And The Sheep Dog Syndrome 
By Thomas C. Mountain

http://www.countercurrents.org/mountain310715.htm

Barack Hussain Obama represents a text book case of the Sheep Dog Syndrome, as in a well trained dog used to control the American Sheeple, leading them either to a sheering or worse case, the slaughter


Poverty And Child Brain Damage 
By Thomas Riggins

http://www.countercurrents.org/riggins310715.htm

When it comes to how USA treat children, it's telling to find out that UNICEF ranks the U.S. at 34 out of 35 industrialized countries (we beat out Romania but eight other former east European socialist countries take better care of their children than we do)


A Juvenile Response By Elected Representatives 
By Emarine Kharbhih

http://www.countercurrents.org/kharbhih310715.htm

There is little substance to the Juvenile Justice (Amendment) Bill, 2014. With little sense of direction, the Bill seems to have been made under political pressure and public outcry in order to calm the outrage and maintain the ideological balance of power in politics. The functions of the Juvenile Justice Board and the Child Welfare Committee is evidently low on performance, with 175 million children in India still marginalised, 144 million deemed to be destitute, 25 million orphaned, and 40,000 juveniles in conflict with law, living in institutes. The government needs to reflect on its own shadow and understand that the Bill should be more proactive rather just being a well-articulated piece of legislation


What About Innovating Beyond The Growth Trap? 
A Challenge To The Ecofiscal Commission’s Growth Fixation 
By James Magnus-Johnston

http://www.countercurrents.org/johnston310715.htm

A new voice has emerged recently in Canada called the “Ecofiscal Commission,” which could have the funding, clout, and determination to steer the country in a more promising direction. The group includes high-profile economists, former political leaders, and high-powered financiers. They define “ecofiscal policy” as something that “corrects market price signals to encourage the economic activities we do want (job creation, investment, and innovation) while reducing those we don’t want (greenhouse gas emissions and the pollution of our land, air, and water).” There seems to be a semblance of steady state thinking among this otherwise rather conventional lot


How #AllLivesMatter And #BlackLivesMatter Can Devalue Life 
By Sam Husseini

http://www.countercurrents.org/husseini310715.htm

It may be possible to honor the noblest possible intent in #BlackLivesMatter: That we should rush to aid those lives that are disregarded by many. Likewise for #AllLivesMatter: We should be universal and apply the principle of veneration of the value of life truly to all. Both impulses in their best form would argue to seriously scrutinize the U.S. government's role as global rogue cop -- a "cop" more dangerous than the most violent, racist police operating in the U.S. today


Viet Nam A Half Century Later 
By David Swanson

http://www.countercurrents.org/swanson310715.htm

Nine leaders of the U.S. antiwar movement of the 1960s have put their current thoughts down in a forthcoming book called The People Make the Peace: Lessons from the Vietnam Antiwar Movement. Those contributing to this book, and who recently returned to Vietnam together, are Rennie Davis, Judy Gumbo, Alex Hing, Doug Hostetter, Jay Craven, Becca Wilson, John McAuliff, Myra MacPherson, and Nancy Kurshan. Their insights into the war, the Vietnamese culture, and U.S. culture, and the peace movement are priceless


Darker Horizons Ahead: Rethinking The War On ‘IS’ 
By Ramzy Baroud

http://www.countercurrents.org/baroud310715.htm

As much of the Middle East sinks deeper into division between competing political camps, the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (‘IS’) continues its unhindered march towards a twisted version of a Muslim caliphate. Many thousands have lost their lives, some in the most torturous ways, so that ‘IS’ may realize its nightmarish dream


The 1965 War: An Army Wife Remembers 
By Asha Vombatkere

http://www.countercurrents.org/vombatkere310715.htm

I realize that I am one of the really fortunate wives who got her husband back intact, and we have just celebrated our Golden Wedding Annversary. For me, it is a time to pay homage to all the brave soldiers who laid down their lives for their country, and to those wives and mothers who carried on bravely after those dearest to them had left forever


Kerala Rise Up In Defense Of Teesta Setalvad
By Countercurrents.org

http://www.countercurrents.org/cc310715.htm

Solidarity Youth Movement of Kerala held a protest rally in front of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office in Kochi against the blatant misuse of power against human rights defenders Teesta Setalvad , her husband Javed Anand and others


The Politics Of Panopticism In Kashmir 
By Ghulam Mohammad Khan

http://www.countercurrents.org/khan310715.htm

To understand the amount of truth and practicality of the Foucauldian assertion, an analysis of the anatomy of social and political system in Kashmir would be considerably a better option. If Kashmir be the ‘enclosed, segmented space’, the nature of its political power, historically a hegemonic institution of social oppression would be it’s, what Foucault calls ‘disciplinary mechanism’. Every Kashmiri unwittingly participates in this mechanism, which had over the period of time produced a powerful discourse of knowledge of its own in the form of laws, of policies and manifestoes


Kodaikanal Won't: Chennai-Born Rapper Takes On 
Unilever For Mercury Contamination 
By Countercurrents.org

http://www.countercurrents.org/cc310715A.htm

Written by Chennai-born rapper Sofia Ashraf and set to Nicki Minaj's “Anaconda,” the video takes an undisguised jab at Unilever for its failure to clean up mercury contamination or compensate workers affected by its thermometer factory in Kodaikanal


Hidden Agenda Behind Amendment To Statistical ACT 
By Abdul Majid Zargar

http://www.countercurrents.org/zargar310715.htm

New Delhi has proposed to amend the Collection of Statistics Act, 2008 (hereinafter referred to as Central Act )so as to enable it to bring within it’s ambit the State of Jammu and Kashmir. If the amendment goes through, New-Delhi will be able to collect & process data relating to statistical subjects falling in the Union List as applicable to Jammu and Kashmir State under the Constitutional (Application to J&K ) Order 1954

RSN: The Tom Brady Railroad

The NFL enjoyed nonprofit status for years even though it was EXTREMELY profitable....it's a GAME that is Consumer and Taxpayer Subsidized!

It's a GAME! It's ENTERTAINMENT.  

While Robert Parry makes a great case, haven't we HEARD, READ and WATCHED enough about DEFLATEGATE to choke a horse? 

 

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FOCUS: Robert Parry | The Tom Brady Railroad 
 
Robert Parry, Consortium News 
Parry writes: "Powerful institutions - whether the U.S. government, the mainstream media or the NFL - can run roughshod over individuals, twisting facts in whatever direction is desired." 
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They want you to think this picture is impossible

I believe that we will win.

On Wednesday night, over 100,000 supporters gathered at 3,500 events across the country to kick off the Bernie 2016 organizing effort. It was an unprecedented grassroots gathering this early in a presidential campaign.

And earlier this week, we received some tremendous polling news from CNN. Check out these two potential general election match-ups:

Bernie Sanders (D): 48%		Bernie Sanders (D): 48%
Scott Walker (R): 42%		Jeb Bush (R): 47%

Bernie has more than tripled his support in the Democratic primary since our April 30th launch, and he is the ONLY Democratic candidate with higher favorable ratings than unfavorable.

We told everyone they should not underestimate us, but we still have a lot of work left to do.

Make a $3 contribution to Bernie 2016 today, and help fund the movement needed to win the presidential election.

When this campaign started, people said it was impossible — that we were dreaming. But it’s not: this is happening. Right now. Because of you. And if we keep it up, it won’t be too difficult for anyone to imagine seeing this on November 8, 2016.

Like Bernie says: “Now is not the time to think small.”

We have our sights set high, but if we stand together and continue to grow, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish. And your contribution today will help get us there.

Thanks for adding one,

Jeff Weaver
Campaign Manager
Bernie 2016

 

Paid for by Bernie 2016

PO Box 905 - Burlington VT 05402 United States - (855) 4-BERNIE

RSN: Listen to WSJ's Bret Stephens Secretly Plot With "Pro-Israel" Evangelical Group Against Iran Deal, New Study: Black Students More Likely to Get Criminalized Discipline Than White Students

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Glenn Greenwald | Listen to WSJ's Bret Stephens Secretly Plot With "Pro-Israel" Evangelical Group Against Iran Deal 
 
Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept 
Greenwald writes: "The fanatical Israel-devoted group Christians United for Israel, which calls itself 'the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States with over two million members,' yesterday held an off-the-record call to formulate strategies for defeating the pending nuclear deal with Iran." 
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Two UC Officers Who Backed Up Story on DuBose Death Put on Administrative Leave 
Amber Hunt, Cincinnati.com 
Hunt writes: "The suspensions came just hours after former Officer Ray Tensing was arraigned on a murder charge in the July 19 shooting of DuBose, 43." 
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Maryland Governor to Shut One of America's Worst Prisons 
Donna Owens, Reuters 
Owens writes: "Baltimore's scandal-plagued jail will be shut down immediately, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said on Thursday, calling the pre-Civil War site and its gang-related corruption 'a disgrace.'" 
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New Study: Black Students More Likely to Get Criminalized Discipline Than White Students 
Abby Haglage, The Daily Beast 
Haglage writes: "In the midst of rising racial tension nationwide, new data on school discipline is bolstering the argument that America's race problem begins in school." 
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Conservative Fault Line: Koch Brothers Giving Trump the Cold Shoulder 
Kenneth P. Vogel and Cate Martel, Politico 
Excerpt: "The Koch brothers are freezing out Donald Trump from their influential political operation - denying him access to their state-of-the-art data and refusing to let him speak to their gatherings of grass-roots activists or major donors." 
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If the ICC Is to Regain Credibility, It Must Investigate Israeli War Crimes in Gaza 
Audrey Bomse and Azadeh Shahshahani, Al Jazeera America 
Excerpt: "In a highly unusual pretrial chamber ruling on July 16, International Criminal Court (ICC) judges reversed a decision by the court's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, not to investigate Israel's assault on a Gaza-bound flotilla in 2010, which left 10 people dead." 
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Portland Icebreaker Protesters Cleared After Judge Fines Greenpeace $2,500 an Hour 
Ellen Brait, Guardian UK 
Brait writes: "Authorities force back kayakers blocking the path of Royal Dutch Shell ship headed to Arctic oil drilling fields." 
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RSN: US to Sell $5.4 Billion Worth of Missiles to Saudi Arabia, It's Not Climate Change - It's Everything Change, How Mass Incarceration Creates 'Million Dollar Blocks' in Poor Neighborhoods

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Margaret Atwood | It's Not Climate Change - It's Everything Change 
 
Margaret Atwood, Medium 
Atwood writes: "The future without oil! For optimists, a pleasant picture. There we are, driving around in our cars fueled by hydrogen, or methane, or solar, or something else we have yet to dream up." 
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Former University of Cincinnati Police Officer Pleads Not Guilty 
Steve Bittenbender, Reuters 
Bittenbender writes: "A judge on Thursday set a bond of $1 million for a former University of Cincinnati campus police officer charged with the murder of an unarmed black man he had stopped for a missing license plate. Ray Tensing, 25, pleaded not guilty at the arraignment." 
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Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood | These Extremist Videos Are Nothing Short of an Attack on Women 
Cecile Richards, The Washington Post 
Richards writes: "These attacks are not about us. They are about the ability of women across the country to access health care. Period." 
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UN Paid Millions to Russian Aviation Firm Since Learning of Sex Attack on Girl 
Paul Lewis, Oliver Laughland and Roger Hamilton-Martin, Guardian UK 
Excerpt: "The United Nations has spent half a billion dollars on contracts with a Russian aviation company since discovering one of its helicopter crews in the Democratic Republic of the Congo drugged and raped a teenage girl in a sexual attack." 
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How Mass Incarceration Creates 'Million Dollar Blocks' in Poor Neighborhoods 
Emily Badger, The Washington Post 
Badger writes: "Our penchant for incarcerating people has grown so strong that, in many cities, taxpayers frequently spend more than a million dollars locking away residents of a single city block." 
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US to Sell $5.4 Billion Worth of Missiles to Saudi Arabia 
teleSUR 
Excerpt: "The U.S. State Department approved the possible sale of US$5.4 billion worth of interceptors missiles to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, just a few weeks after the U.S. and five other world powers sealed a deal with Iran over Tehran's nuclear program." 
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Activists Stop Shell Vessel as It Attempts to Leave Portland Harbor 
Greenpeace Press Release, Reader Supported News 
Excerpt: "The Greenpeace USA activists who rappelled from the St. John's Bridge in Portland more than 30 hours ago successfully blocked Shell's Arctic drilling support vessel, the Fennica, as it attempted to leave Portland this morning." 
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