Thursday, October 14, 2004

TIME TO GET A MOVE ON IT, DONTCHA THINK?          If the prospect of global warming doesn't scare you, maybe you're made of ice thicker than the Greenland Ice Cap. But as published in Salon there are a dozen highly vulnerable areas around the globe where global warming can occur, and as Bush said to Kerry in the second debate, "you can run, but you can't hide".  No place on earth wouldn't be affected if any of these scenarios plays out, many in our own lifetime. Scientists will monitor these areas just to see how close to reality their observations play out. Let's just say we're tampering with phenomena most of us can't place, much even pronounce. The doomsday cracks in the armor stretch from Tibet to South America, from the Arctic Ocean all the way to the Sahara, and each change in one place could have devestating affects somewhere far, far away. Many are already in a state of change now, with glaciers melting, precipitation in widespread areas undergoing radical transformations, and the mechanisms causing those changes are in high gear.     For example, trillions of cubic meters of methane gas heretofore locked underneath the oceans by ice and rock could somehow with the Earth heating up put enough pressure to blow through fissures through rock that's been capping it time immorial. The amount of escaped methane into the atmosphere could equal all the combined emissions of Carbon Dioxide of the 20th Century.   No one quite knows when these events will happen, or the consequences if they do. Read the article for a sobering epitphet to our mother Earth. Life will never be as we know it.  Other strange occurences observed by diligent scientists are warning of a Sahara desert that takes on more rainfall. That sounds nice until the dots begin to connect, and we learn how important it is for that sand to blow out over the oceans, providing nutrients to marine life, stifle hurricane development, and ease overall global warming.  I myself have been contemplating a place on earth that actually could reap the benefits of such a gloomsday forecast, and guess what folks, I'm still looking. Because it might rain in Chicago, but it might be drenched most of the year as well.  Or how about the beaches of Mexico?  Not so fast, with predictions of polar ice caps melting, what Mexican shoreline?  I know we like to think these things won't happen while we're here, maybe a thousand years or so from now when scientists and humanity figured out during our slumber how to fix it.  We can't wait that long. Even though no one can say with authority yes this is going to be the consequence of this happening or that going awry, we'd have to be fooling ourselves. Haven't we seen the beginning already? 1:51:49 PM    comment []

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http://www.salon.com 8:11:29 AM    comment []

Fading picture of the American dream. In Stark County, Ohio -- a bellwether for the nation -- the decline in heavy industry and the rise of holy doctrine are key factors shaping the election. [Salon.com] 7:04:55 AM    comment []

A LITTLE ABOUT THE DEBATE LAST NIGHT   Did you see last night's debate between Bush and Kerry. Okay, now I've see the three faces of George Bush. Which is the real one? The scowler (Debate 1)--the passive/aggressive candidate (Debate II), or last night's debate where a temptuous smile loomed in place of a scowl? Can you say, "handlers" and rehearsals? For the most part Kerry continued his performance of solid handling of the facts (as he knew them). But Bush seems to be trying to get to where he connects with the voters, and that is usually through a script or a stump speech surrounded by adoring Bush-ites. The unpredictability of a debate seems to scare this guy, and the lines come out as pre-rehearsed. In other words, I didn't feel the connection, because I couldn't believe he passionately believed the words coming out of his own mouth. Kerry on the other hand had a grasp on the subject matter. My only problem with him was the constant scribbling of the pen. What's up with that. I wanted him to listen, not scribble all night. But it didn't seem to slow him down, so that's good I guess. Bush on the other hand wasn't sipping water as frequently and he looked as if he were listening to Kerry more. Bush didn't seem to suffer any embarassment at what are considered huge holes in his policies. As if I walk around in socks full of holes, and someone points them out...and I say, hey but look where the material covers the foot. That's what I'm talking about.    Bush seemed more aware of his conservative base out there when pushed to the wall then he did reassuring the middle class of what would benefit them. When it came to the question, would you overturn Roe vs. Wade, the president sidestepped the question and talked about judges who interpret the constitution. I'm not sure that was a straight answer, but Kerry's sure was. He pledged no litmus tests, but he wouldn't stack a court that's out to throw out Roe vs. Wade.  The president may have been trying to fool the swing voters that the Supreme Court isn't that big of a deal when butted with his comments on abortion --that we can all be reasonable on this.  Which is a big fat lie...his administration has been trying to roll back Roe vs. Wade them moment they assumed power. Look at the money earmarked for other countrie's family planning chapters. They're funds dried up because abortion was an option discussed in those situations, among other time-tested alternatives. But the current administration has been very aggressive about this. So, reasonable? I think not.      Moving on to Kerry, I have to admit was a plan for this, a plan for that, and anything else he was asked. It was difficult for me to cut through to the details (I don't expect not hear every detail there is) but I know there are websites out there that can give me more information on his "plans". He referred going back to the 90's as a way to bring back fiscal responsibility. "We did it then", he said. My skepticism is that the 90's are over...will the same things work seeing the trillions already being spent? Or is it too late? Could he really do it in a few years. I don't know.Check out  factcheck.org, those people are on top of it.    What I wanted out of the debates, and I think I got, was a distinction between Bush and Kerry. Kerry is more in command of the moment with his facts, his retorts, and certainly is up on Bush's record. I liked the way threw Bush's plans into the fire...and came out with a Kerry-Edwards plan. He's making promises, but so did Clinton, many caught fire and smoldered away. Part of the problem was a republican-driven Congress. If Kerry is elected, will he face the same statelmate Clinton did. Remember how nothing got done except finger pointing, and scandals.The Republicans were on their own mission to retake the country. Remember, Contract With America? Clinton was often tossed to the side, his policies open to rightwing mudslinging. Was Hillary's plan really that bad? I mean, there was this growing need, but the enemy in this case had no heartfelt compassion to go under the tent and pass the torch around...it became more a personal issue of who's wearing the boots in the Clinton white house. Nothing came out of it not because it didn't have redeeming values, but looked at who was pushing it. America may have done itself a diservice by not taking a serious look at the merit instead of who presided over it.    I think it would be a good idea to get a hold of those debates again and keep watchingthem, because the remaining days will be candidates going back to comfortable, scripted venues where characterization will become the norm. Don't trust the media because you're never getting the whole story, they don't delve that deeply. You'll hear the attacks, which has become the norm, but the issues, the stories of what's been done are accessible, and I'll begin adding links here so we really know where these guys stand, in case you or myself have forgotten. 6:55:06 AM    comment []

http://www.nationmaster.com/ 6:18:38 AM    comment []

BABY STEPS FROM SOMEONE WHOSE BEEN AROUND AND       These are my first baby steps toward inclusion into phase II of the cyberworld for me. Once I had a website built from Microsoft's HTML Editor. It's out there somewhere floating for future generations to find. God knows I've tried. I'm basically starting my own blog because there's a lot to say, alot to share about the problems besettting our world, our cultures, and society in general. I'm not doing this for demagoguery, ego satisfaction, or to get my name out there. Just consider me a concerned citizen of this planet we call Earth. In my musings I hope to share what I feel is important and shareworthy. I'm not going to bore you with what I learned on the guitar today, or what I had for lunch. What I am going to do is to try connecting with people like myself, and especially those with differing views. The idea of progress, and our uniqueness is that we can think, we can absorb information and process--and still use our hearts in guiding us to what's right, and what smells like a rat. Together we can put our collective fears, hopes, ideas, and intelligence together to make some sense of what's going on, and possibly see alternatives to a way of life that seems to be increasingly dysunctional. I guess I like to call it common sense. It's difficult when a million information molecules are rolling into and over your brain every other second. You've got this side, that side---and if you're like I am...hey, both sides make some sense. I want to help you help me and everybody discover a Native American way of coming to the truth. I'm not sure what tribe practiced this, (I'll try to do better at my research as I get the hang of this), but under the roof the elders got together, the familes, the men, the women. Everyone got a chance to talk about a problem facing the tribe. It went around the room. There were no arguments, no humiliations, just a roundtable passing of the torch. It was said by the time everyone had there say, the answer was staring them in the face. There was no tie-breaker because there didn't need to be. The answer showed itself.  Now I'm not saying it's that easy to come to a concensus in this evermore complicated world, but a simple idea can go along way sometimes. I've seen it in classrooms. A good teacher will put out facts, consolidating beliefs along the way until the children as a whole see the connections, and unite in a collective way, getting closer to what the problem IS, and what solutions inevitebly flow from defining the problem. Not everyone agrees, but respect for all views predominate and that goes a longer way toward a solution or compromise than more arguing. So thank you for reading this far. I will be doing all the things hopefully others provide on their blogs in making this a more informative, entertaining, and thoughtful site. 6:12:48 AM    comment []

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