IN TODAY'S AUDIO REPORT: Who will build the World's Largest Solar Farm? Right. China!; Air pollution is bad for you. Who knew? ... PLUS: Oil, Oil, Toil and Trouble ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA': Are blackboards more environmentally friendly than whiteboards?; Waste Not, Watt Not: Energy efficiency cuts pollution while lowering energy bills; World's first off-shore floating wind turbine opens in Norway; ‘Once in a century’ downpour kills 20 in Turkey ... PLUS: The least sustainable seafood in the world, and why you should avoid it ....

Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today's episode follow below...

[Now updated with audio archives at bottom of article.]

We'll be bringing you special live coverage of Obama's speech all night tonight, as I continue guest hosting this week's Mike Malloy Show LIVE from Los Angeles.

I'll be 'Bradcasting' from L.A.'s KTLK am1150 from 9pm-Midnight ET (6p-9p PT) with analysis, reaction and commentary on the President's health care address to a joint session of Congress.

Please join the conversation during the show in our new, handy-dandy chat room facility below (open during the speech and the show).

Among our scheduled guests tonight...

• IGOR VOLSKY, of Center for American Progress, contributor to the book Howard Dean's Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform: How We Can Achieve Affordable Medical Care for Every American and Make Our Jobs Safer, on the latest in healthcare politics and fear.
• DAVID "D-DAY" DAYEN, of d-day, Calitics and Digby's Hullabaloo.
• HOWIE KLEIN, of Down With Tyranny and Huffington Post with us IN-STUDIO!
• DAVE JOHNSON, of Seeing the Forest, and a fellow Commonweal Institute Fellow.
• Plus, your calls at 877-520-1150, and whatever else comes up along the way...

Malloy's show is nationally syndicated on a number of air affiliates around the country, also on Sirius Ch. 146 & XM Ch. 167, or listen to the free online stream here or here!

Click here to jump into our new LIVE Chat Room during the show, hosted by "Agent 99"! Or see below!... Opening chat room early, at 5p PT (8p ET) during Prez speech tonight!...

POST-SHOW UPDATE AND AUDIO ARCHIVES: Archives of our busy live special coverage are now posted below, with thanks to the very busy Ben Burch from WhiteRose Society! The archives of tonight's spirited Chat Room discussion, from during the show, and the President's speech just before it, is all below. Enjoy 'em all!...

From AP via TPM...

Prosecutors notified in June of 2008? But nobody bothered to point that out publicly until now? Go figure.

Of course, for those Fox "News" viewers who don't already know, virtually every one of the handful of ACORN workers (out of some 13,000 employees) who were arrested for defrauding the organization, were turned in to officials by ACORN themselves. Here's some help for disinformed Glenn Beck fans. Yes, ACORN is the one that flags voter registrations themselves as fraudulent before turning them into officials, as they are required to do by law.

Contrast this case (and all the other ACORN-smear cases) with the one, among many, that Fox "News" (and the others) forgot to report and/or become outraged about: The arrest, and subsequent guilty plea of the head of the California GOP's own voter registration firm, Mark Anthony Jacoby of Young Political Majors (YPM), for voter registration fraud.

Yes, I had to personally break that news on Fox.

Oh, yeah, and for good measure, there's well-documented felony vote fraudster Ann Coulter who is even paid by Fox "News" to appear on their network regularly, even to this day.

[Now updated with audio archives at bottom of article.]

Welcome back from Labor Day! I'll be on the job again tonight, and each night this week, guest hosting The Mike Malloy Show LIVE from Los Angeles.

I'll be 'Bradcasting' LIVE from L.A.'s KTLK am1150 from 9pm-Midnight ET (6p-9p PT).

We've got a new chat room tool that we're using during the show, so please jump into the conversation (chat room live when the show begins) below.

Scheduled so far tonight...

• JANE HAMSHER, publisher of Firedoglake.com on the resignation of Van Jones, and the "Moment of Truth for Liberal Institituions in the Veal Pen". Plus a preview of Obama's healthcare speech tomorrow night.
• BEV HARRIS, founder of BlackBoxVoting.org on the anti-trust concerns in the sale of Diebold's e-voting division to election giant ES&S.
• MIKE ROGERS, publisher of PageOneQ.com and BlogActive.com, with another "Big Gay Hour", on his 'outing' of SC Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, Obama's (so far) failure on gay issues, and much more.
• Plus, DESI DOYEN with the 'Green News Report', my rants, your calls at 877-520-1150, and whatever else comes up along the way...

Malloy's show is nationally syndicated on a number of air affiliates around the country, also on Sirius Ch. 146 & XM Ch. 167, or listen to the free online stream here or here!

Jump into our new LIVE Chat Room during the show, hosted by "Agent 99"! See below!...

POST-SHOW UPDATE AND AUDIO ARCHIVES: Archives are now posted below, with thanks to the very busy Ben Burch from WhiteRose Society! Also posted below is the lively Chat Room discussion from during the show. Enjoy 'em all!...

Guest editorial by Ernest A. Canning

In "Single-Payer and the 'Democracy Deficit'," citing empirical studies, polls and the extensive data assembled by Physicians for a National Health Program, I argued that the current for-profit health care system is not merely corrupt, irrational and dysfunctional, but deadly; that it pits the obscene profits of a few health insurance company CEOs and their Wall Street investors against the health of our people, whose very lives are treated as nothing more than a commodity.

In that article, and in subsequent posts, I noted that those who seek to preserve the status quo are advocating nothing less than a death sentence for the more than 18,000 Americans who die each year simply because they can't afford insurance; that countless others die after being denied vital procedures.

I cited empirical data that demonstrates that so-called hybrid systems, including one with a "public option," are inordinately expensive as most of the monies find their way into the insurance industry coffers by way of subsidies. Single-payer systems, with administrative costs in the 1% to 2% range, are far more efficient than our multi-payer system where 31% is squandered on for-profit carriers.

I pointed to the undue influence of corporate campaign contributions which have corrupted the legislative process, where the likes of Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) have worked tirelessly to keep single-payer off-the-table. In yet another piece, I noted how wing-nut mobs have provided cover for this betrayal of the American people.

Well, here's your chance, America...

IN TODAY'S AUDIO REPORT: The rising cost of fighting wildfires; JAWS is back?!?; Back to school with swine flu... PLUS: Van Jones, an advocate for green jobs, loses his own ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA': Why not spend $21 billion on solar power from space?; Dams, water conservation at issue in water reform; NBC explores 'toxic town' where residents were paid to pack and leave; Innovation in energy efficient lighting with Organic Light Emitting Diodes; Wind Energy "NIMBY Backlash?"; Lithium shortage to short out electric cars? Not so much ... PLUS: Big Oil creates phony climate denial site, then lies about it!....

Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today's episode follow below...

Guest blogged by Ernest A. Canning

Separate articles appeared in Monday's New York Times and in the Washington Post. Both suggest that the resignation submitted by Van Jones, a special adviser for green jobs at the White House Council for Environmental Quality, were the result of inadequate White House "vetting." Neither newspaper examined the question as to whether the true problem was the inability to withstand a smear campaign led by extreme right-wing whack jobs like Glenn Beck; an inability reflected by the Times' description of a "terse" acceptance of the resignation, with White House spokesman Robert Gibbs taking pains to stress that President Barack Obama "did not endorse" Jones' views.

The three Jones sins were his having uttered an expletive in referring to Republicans, his having "signed a petition in 2004 questioning whether the Bush administration had allowed the terrorist attacks of September 2001 to provide a pretext for war in the Middle East," and his support for Mumia Abu-Jamal ("Mumia")...

[Now updated with audio archives at bottom of article.]

As you return from your Labor Day festivities tonight, and for the rest of the week, we'll be on the air LIVE guest hosting The Mike Malloy Show again through Friday.

I'll be 'Bradcasting' LIVE from L.A.'s KTLK am1150 from 9pm-Midnight ET (6p-9p PT).

As usual, lots of great guests lining up for the week, and as much time as I can fit in for your calls (877-520-1150), my rants, etc. I'll also be trying out a new live CHAT ROOM tool here on The BRAD BLOG tonight during the show, so please stop by to participate while we're on the air (unless you're driving, of course).

Scheduled so far tonight...

• DAVID SWANSON, activist, organizer, creator of AfterDowningStreet.org, and author of the brand new (and top selling!) Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union.
• KEVIN ZEESE of VotersForPeace.us and VelvetRevolution.us on torture, accountability and the DisbarTortureLawyers.com campaign.
• Plus, my rants (and I'm in the mood for plenty of them after this bit of shameful news over the weekend) your calls at 877-520-1150, and whatever else comes up along the way...

Malloy's show is nationally syndicated on a number of air affiliates around the country, also on Sirius Ch. 146 & XM Ch. 167, or listen to the free online stream here or here!

POST-SHOW UPDATE AND AUDIO ARCHIVES: Well that was a fast three hours! Archives are now posted below, with thanks to the very busy Ben Burch from WhiteRose Society! Also posted below is the lively Chat Room discussion from during the show...

I will have more to say --- much more, I suspect --- tomorrow night (Monday) on the nationally syndicated Mike Malloy Show, where I'll be guest hosting again all this week from 6p-9p PT (9-Midnight ET).

For now then, just the basic report that the Fox "News" Thought Police, now under the ironic leadership of Glenn Beck, have won a victory in securing their first pound of flesh --- dare I say, first pound of black flesh? --- by forcing the resignation of a great public servant and a hero to many, as well as one of the very few actual progressives in the Obama Administration, his green jobs adviser Van Jones:

As mentioned, much more on this tomorrow night. Suffice to say, today I'm just trying to contain my anger...at a lot of folks here. More tomorrow night. Please tune in.

Recommended related reads elsewhere...

• Hamsher @ FDL: Van Jones: A Moment of Truth For Liberal Institutions in the Veal Pen [Particularly recommended!]
• Blue Texan @ FDL: Is There Anything More Ridiculous Than Republicans Complaining about “Extremist Views and Coarse Rhetoric”?
• Scahill @ RebelReports: Rep. Mike Pence, Who Led Witch Hunt Against Van Jones, Took $1000s From Extremist Erik Prince
• David Roberts @ Grist.org: Thoughts on Van Jones’ resignation
• Carl Pope @ Sierra Club: We All Blew It [ed note: Whaddaya mean "we", white man?]
• Sirota @ HuffPo: Obama Sells Us Out to Political Terrorist Glenn Beck & His Lynch Mob
• [And for a somewhat contrarian view] Hazen @ AlterNet: 5 Reasons Why Van Jones and Progressives are Better Off With Jones Out of the White House

Jim White, 1936 - 2003

A few personal observations... I doubt that I'd be involved in radio at all these days myself, were it not for the many late nights, as a child, in the dark, when I should have been sleeping, listening to Jim White broadcast over the 50,000 watt KMOX blow-torch in St. Louis, MO. Back in the days when talk radio was something very different than what it has now become...

What it is, ain't exactly clear...

• Late last month, Attorney General Eric Holder announced plans for a narrow investigation into torture carried out by the previous Administration. It's not enough, by a long shot, but it's a start. And it wasn't blocked by the White House, despite CIA Director Leon Panetta's best, and most shameful efforts to head it off.

• Yesterday, the State Dept. announced they were cutting off aid to Honduras and revoking visas for some involved in the recent ouster of President Zelaya. That, despite the bought-and-paid for lobbying to the contrary by Sec. of State Hillary Clinton's close friend Lanny Davis --- as expertly detailed by Ernie Canning here earlier this week --- and strong-arming from the wingnuts who are happy to ignore all pretensions of caring about "democracy" whenever a perceived "leftist" can be removed from power by any means possible.

• Today, the White House publicly spoke out against Israel's announced plans to build new settlements, despite predictable heat sure to come from U.S. Republicanists and Israeli hardliners.

• [Added] Also today, the White House agreed to make visitor logs available to the public, leading Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) to drop their lawsuit against the Obama Administration. [Had meant to include this one in the list originally, but had forgotten it until reminded in comments by the salty-tongued 'The ZapKitty'.]

So what gives? Did the Obama Administration huddle over the August recess, realize their well-meaning, but ultimately futile effort at "bi-partisanship" was a non-starter, and decide to start doing the right thing, no matter how much the bullies out there are sure to throw shit fits about it all?

Granted, these are all fairly baby steps. But it's a curious flurry, and I'm wondering if something hopeful could be afoot. It'd be welcome news if so. If not, as we spend so much time around here critical of so much that he's done wrong, it's only fair to offer occasional kudos --- even baby step kudos --- when he manages to do something right.

So am I reading to much into these small, albeit seemingly positive late developments? Or is it possible someone at the White House has begun to see some light?

Guest blogged by Ernest A. Canning

Former U.S. Attorney and Rhode Island Attorney General Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) recently wrote in National Law Journal:

During a Sept. 2, 2009 segment of MSNBC's Countdown, Keith Olbermann interviewed Whitehouse about his National Law Journal piece (video below) and quoted former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who praised Attorney General Eric Holder's appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate CIA employees who exceeded the guidelines contained in the infamous Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) torture memos.

Olbermann's interview included a Fox "News" segment in which Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) was cut-off by a Fox anchor while making the following crucial point...

The world's largest corporate e-voting supplier is about to become even larger. Today, TX-based Premier Election Solutions, the beleaguered and oft-failed voting division of OH-based parent company Diebold, Inc., announced they have been purchased by oft-failed e-voting goliath Election Systems & Software, Inc. (ES&S). The move, if allowed to stand, would "consolidate most U.S. voting under one privately held manufacturer," according to one election watchdog who has announced plans to file an anti-trust complaint concerning the sale with the Department of Justice.

Diebold, facing lost money, lost reputation, lost votes and multiple legal battles, has been trying to unload its election division for several years. Having failed at first, the company created an "independent" entity, Premier --- same pig, damned near same lipstick --- in hopes of regaining money and reputation, if not votes. That failed too.

But somehow, as reported today, Diebold was able to convince Nebraska-based ES&S, the nation's largest election company and supplier of 100% unverifiable voting systems, to agree to the purchase.

Diebold says it purchased the election division from Global Election Systems, Inc., for $31 million in 2002. Today, Diebold announced it will sell to ES&S for just $5 million, plus 70% of any cash from outstanding accounts receivable as of August 31.

Unless they've made special arrangements already with Diebold, the people at ES&S --- no stranger to lost votes themselves --- may quickly be saddled with a fair amount of liability from the storied past and continuing failures of Diebold products across the country.

That is, if the acquisition, which is sure to quash any such "competition" in the market which might still exist, is allowed to stand in the first place...

The Cincinnati Enquirer's Jon Craig is live tweeting the Schmidt v. Krikorian hearing going on today before the Ohio Election Commission, for those of you interested in the actual case that resulted in the stunning --- though MSM-ignored --- deposition of FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds. He writes to let us know both that, and that it's running longer than expected today...

UPDATE: Noteworthy tweet, as tensions reportedly running very high in hearing:

...and prior to that:

...and before that:

...though Craig notes AP and other local media are there.

UPDATE 1:46pm PT: Also, Geoffrey Sea, is live blogging the hearing as "Ohiobama" at dKos. An early report of his, on attorney Mark Geragos' defense of Krikorian who is facing "false statements" charges alleged by Jean Schmidt (R-OH-2nd) after he'd claimed last year she accepted "blood money" from Turkish interests:

...and in a later update, with Schmidt on the stand, Sea notes:

UPDATE 3:02pm PT: As hearing was running very long, Krikorian team asked for a continuance to another day. Craig tweets "Hearing is being continued to Oct. 1."

Well, well. As The BRAD BLOG reported previously, Sibel Edmonds will be back in the country by then, and likely able to testify LIVE on the stand, if the Commission allows it. Krikorian wanted her to do so originally --- and she was willing to do so as well --- but she was gone, and the Commission refused to extend original hearing date. Now, this could get very interesting...

UPDATE 7:16pm PT: In response to an email query about testifying in the case, if called, Edmonds wrote back to us tonight:

ALSO: Jon Craig's full coverage of today's hearings, for tomorrow's Cincinnati Enquirer, is now published here... (And he even dares to use the words "Sibel Edmonds" in the article! Shocking.)

IN TODAY'S AUDIO REPORT: California burning; Killing wolves; Recycling the Great Pacific Garbage Patch... PLUS: A Fracture in the Clean Coal Coalition ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (links below): UN inks global treaty to fight illegal fishing; Mercury Found in Blood of One-Third of American Women; City of London Launches Green Business Guide Website; Continuing fallout from Chinese lead-poisoning scandal that hospitalized 2000 children; Heat Waves Getting Worse ... PLUS: How Much Surface Area Would It Take To Power the World With Wind and Solar?

Info/links on those stories and all the ones we talked about on today's episode follow below...