Wow, all of a sudden, McCain is green. Ok, so since 2003, he's been around slinging the cap and trade buzz-phrase when the environment comes up. I honestly thought it was a lame campaign strategy -- something borrowed for speeches since he couldn't come up with his own idea. But then a couple days ago, he put on his best Al Gore face and tried to win some treehugger votes -- again with the same old thing he's been riding for five years.

I agree we need something, but I'd hate to see McCain get into office and give this a whirl. Likely, Congress would vote against it, pointing at the financial and regulation nightmare the EU is experiencing and the fact that their plan has had a much smaller effect on carbon emissions than expected.

In America, I suspect it would be worse, given our love for excess and the opportunity for corruption with such a plan. To put it simply, with Cap & Trade, groups that do not pollute are rewarded financially (yay!) by selling their credits to the highest bidder (boo!). The purchasers can then continue to emit pollutants, just at a higher cost. Or, they can move their business to a country without regulations.

Which means, we’ll be paying more, still contributing to Global Warming, and giving away US jobs in the process.

Regardless, he’s still pimping it on the campaign trail, it’s all over his website. It’s like if he says he “thinks green” then that counts for not having a real solution.

A few days ago, he actually said “…you would think that if the polar bears, walruses, and sea birds have the good sense to respond to new conditions and new dangers, then humanity can respond as well.” I smacked my head on the television. Repeatedly.

Of course! Why polar bears “respond” by stranding themselves on ice. The walrus population “responds” by stampeding entire colonies to death and abandoning their pups. And sea birds “respond” by not breeding.

They're onto something! Let's leave those who can’t afford expensive energy costs stranded and kill off businesses that can’t afford to buy credits or change their business model!

Maybe we should all think like Sea Birds and just stop procreating.

But do we think he'll actually try to make it happen if he gets into office? He's waived his green thumb before, yet Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, called him a liar. "Out of 535 Members of Congress, McCain is the only one who chose to miss every single key environmental vote" he said. "...every other Member who (opposed) at least had the temerity to show up and vote against the environment and clean energy time after time. And unlike John McCain, I doubt any of them would claim to be environmental leaders or champions on global warming."

Ah well, it could be worse. At least he's not the AntiChrist and doesn't blame his flatulence on the dog.

The last few months have been frantic around here, but in a good way. Like a kind of Frappuccino- sugary-caffeine-induced-frantic. You love it, you’re getting a lot done, and it tastes like a little slice of heaven. ;)

We’re in the final stages of a new Squarespace release that is so huge it almost feels like we’re launching an entirely new product. To make another Starbucks reference, it’s like when you’ve been addicted to Caramel Frappuccinos for years, and then they come out with one that is calorie free. And it tastes better. With chocolate chips even.

It's that good.

The last day to send in hope notes for Rwanda was yesterday, and so far I'd say we've received at least 100. This isn't so much frantic or time consuming, but something that's been on my mind and in my heart. I will miss seeing my post office box stuffed with hope notes.

It's been uplifting to say the least.

Despite it all, I still managed to watch the last episode of Battlestar (albeit, TiVo'd) and participate in the Sc-Fi cast. Dave has added it to our iTunes podcast -- if you haven't already, subscribe here.

Even if you're not a huge fan of the show, you just might enjoy it, if only for the Atari references and my persistent valley girl accent. Like omigod, dontcha know.

You may have heard... sk*rt is changing their name. Moving on to bigger and better ... with less hyphen. And they need your help deciding what it should be!

I feel their pain. Anyone who's read me since way back when has witnessed a few name changes around here. Recently, when I started hoperevo.com I went through a dozen other names first. Some were too long, hard to spell, or too similar to projects others were doing. Friends kept offering up names, usually with “hope” or “revolution” in them, and then one day it struck me. hopeREVO. Short, simple, easy to remember and got right to the point.

When I looked through the name ideas presented by sk*rt, SHESAW struck me in the same way. It totally makes sense. What is sk*rt? It’s Digg for women. Of course there’s lots more to it, but at it’s core, that’s what it is.

I love that it also has two concepts behind it:
1) “She saw” as in, I’m a she, I saw this, you should check it out.
2) The play on the word “seesaw”. It implies participation, community, give and take, back and forth. You can’t play on a seesaw alone. Well you can, but it’s not half as fun. Just like the internet.

So to end my rambling rant: SEESAW. I fracking love it!

The first wave of notes hit my post office box last week -- thank you for the love, energy and creativity you have put into them. Keep them coming! We still need a lot more.

I've created a easy to remember link for use on your own blog or in email:
http://hoperevo.com/rwanda

If you can get them finished and mailed by next Monday (May 5th) that should give them enough time to arrive here before I overnight the entire package to Jen on May 14th. Have a Hope Revolution party this weekend and recruit your friends & family!

Jen and Odette are making hope happen in Rwanda! They've received more than $6,300 in donations for the travel expenses and materials needed to spread hope while Jen's there.

Now that the resources are in place, there's a long laundry list of things to do. And that's where you and I come in, fellow hope revolutionaries! We're going to create hope notes to send with Jen to the girls of Rwanda.

Visit the Hope Revolution website for details on how you can participate »