Friday, May 31, 2013

California native fish could disappear with climate change - latimes.com

California native fish could disappear with climate change - latimes.com 

82% of our native fish are threatened. Unbelievable. In the third largest state in the country.
Nothing to see here people, carry on. Nothing of note oil and coal people, and climate deniers, just the future of our species you are fucking with, and for which you should and will be held legally responsible.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Frontline Video: The Untouchables: why no Wall St. execs have faced fraud charges for the financial crisis

Video: The Untouchables | Watch FRONTLINE Online | PBS Video 

Infuriating.

FRONTLINE  The Untouchables

FRONTLINE examines why no Wall St. execs have faced fraud charges for the financial crisis

Bob Dole Scolds today's GOP: 'Closed for repairs'

Bob Dole Scolds GOP: Reagan Wouldn't Make It In Today's Republican Party | ThinkProgress 

'WALLACE: What do you think of your party, the Republicans today?
DOLE: I think they ought to put a sign on the national committee doors that says “closed for repairs” until New Year’s Day next year — and spend that time going over ideas and positive agendas.'

'Dole, now 89, also took his own party to task for abuse of the Senate’s cloture rules. Wallace noted that “In your first two years as a Senator, there were 7 motions filed — cloture motions to end debate. In the last two years, there were 115 cloture motions,” and asked the five-term Senator whether it is inappropriate that due to minority obstruction it now takes a 60-vote super-majority to pass any legislation or confirm any nominees.
“No doubt about it,” Dole told him, “There are some cases where you could probably justify if, but not many.”"

CBS Breaks Climate Silence With Panel Connecting Climate Change To Extreme Weather | ThinkProgress

CBS Breaks Climate Silence With Panel Connecting Climate Change To Extreme Weather | ThinkProgress 

Media needs to catch up with science. Otherwise they are just as culpable as the obstructionist special interests who are jeopardizing all of our collective futures.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Mount Everest's ice is melting, researcher claims | Fox News

Mount Everest's ice is melting, researcher claims | Fox News 

When Fox News reports that Mount Everest is melting, it's like the fat lady singing at the opera. It's almost over. After shitting on climate change data and science for years, they have the balls to report this open faced. As if it's the first they've heard of it. "Mount Everest's ice is melting," so, umm, wow. This is getting pretty bad. Maybe we should look at all the best scientific projections of the next dominoes to fall, and umm, try to help before we all really are screwed.
Thanks, Fox News.

Friday, May 10, 2013

SUPER COOL Electric Car Models - EV-INFO.com

Electric Car Model - EV-INFO.com 

Wow, many new models coming out in 2014. Love it, want a bunch of 'em!!!

Furnishing EVERY home in America with Solar Panels would Cost Less than the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars combined

Furnishing EVERY home in America with Solar Panels would Cost Less than the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars combined, and would SAVE TAXPAYERS more than $162 billion per year

Wow that puts a sharp point on it. Our values and vision are really screwed up. One day (soon?) people will begin to Democratize our Democracy more, and choose to spend tax money here, on schools, roads, technology, and solar power. 'Beware the military industrial complex' Dwight Eisenhower said. 50 years after those words, that construct's self-fulfilling prophecy leave us an antiquated America. We need a modern America. I can't wait until that generation -- they know who they are -- and its time passes (our parents sadly notwithstanding, most of whom are probably not the hawks and apparatchiks that keep that system on its inertial roll). The planet is fast becoming us, not us vs. them. Divisive powers will lose their steam in the face of the majority of us, as per the 20,000 who marched in downtown LA for immigration and worker's rights on May Day yesterday. These are people of every color and religion, marching for fairness. This is the future.

Holy shi*, this stuff has got to start to get one's attention. CO2, climate warming greenhouse gas, reaches *400 parts per million* for the *first time in human history.* One wonders what they can do... http://colbyallerton.blogspot.com/2013/01/earth-is-full-so-what-can-i-do.html and zero down, rooftop solar http://content.sierraclub.org/solar/sungevity/?zip=90291&ref&e and electric cars http://www.ev-info.com/en/electric-cars-models.html and don't be a lemming, change your and our path
If 'sun soaked' Germany can install over 150mw of installed solar per week, WHY CAN'T THE U.S. DO BETTER?
"Politically entrenched interests keep that from happening."
"Because the U.S. is run by corporations. Simple." 
Yes. Thanks Spike. Public interest and involvement eventually tip over corrupted institutions. Climate, Superstorm Sandy, Keystone XL and people seeing the destruction by oil and coal and the clear desirability of clean, renewable, non-monopolizable wind and solar are bringing this tipping point. But the arthritic, old Mr. Burns-like hands desperately gripping the controls of old energy won't give up without a fight. They must modernize and transform their utilities asap, or we will overwhelm them with distributed, local clean energy. Thanks for helping with the fight. I too hope we're in time.
 

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Climate Progress: '...imagine that a technologically advanced society could choose, in essence, to destroy itself...'

Climate Progress | ThinkProgress 

Umm, maybe we can change the 'we' below to the GOP and the oil and coal industries.

"“It may seem impossible to imagine that a technologically advanced society could choose, in essence, to destroy itself, but that is what we are now in the process of doing.” So ends Field Notes from a Catastrophe, the terrific 2006 book by Elizabeth Kolbert, one of the country’s most thoughtful climate journalists."

ThinkProgress: New Study: The Economic Benefits of EPA Regulations Massively Outweigh The Costs

ThinkProgress 

"Environmental regulations do impose compliance costs on businesses, and can raise prices, which hurt economic growth. But they also create jobs by requiring pollution clean-up and prevention efforts. And perhaps even more importantly, they save the economy billions by avoiding pollution’s deleterious health effects. Particles from smoke stacks, for example, are implicated in respiratory diseases, heart attacks, infections and a host of other ailments, all of which require billions in health care costs per year to treat. Preventing those particles from going into the air means healthier and more productive citizens, who can go spend that money on something other than making themselves well again. Another example is carbon emissions, which will impose costs on the economy in the form of future disruption to food supplies, destruction from extreme weather, and other upheavals if they’re not curbed."

Sunset, Venice 12/20/2012

Sunset, Venice 12/20/2012
I've been thinking some about the Winter Solstice, the Mayan end of the 30,000-year-cycle on 12/21/12.

What if in fact the world did end? Even though this probably will not happen, to live consciously it is honest for us to take a bit of an inventory.

Am I happy with how I've lived my life? (Yesterday, I thought mostly yes, with some areas for improvement, as below.) Are there changes I would make?
Would I have tried to forgive those that were hostile or disappointing to me?
Would I spend more time with those I loved the most, telling them that, feeling that more?
Would I be happier, grateful for what I have, what I've experienced, the joy, the beauty in this world?

Maybe the answer is yes to all of the above.
So this time can serve as a point of rebirth for all of us. If we think about it.

Because somewhere along the line I realized I think maybe mankind deserves it. !
The way we are killing each other, killing the planet.
How selfish we are, and snotty to those around us. Petty, competitive. Why is this? Do we have to behave this way? (I say no, it greatly detracts and misdirects energy from the full-time celebration in which we could engage, the great multi-cultural, multi-rhythmic dance we can sustain here.)

Maybe God or the Great Universe is fed up, and will pull the rug out from under us.
Don't think I can say we could blame Him/Her/It.

But it probably won't happen. (Probably not! This time.)

Still we are finite on this ride.

It is a time to think, am I happy with how I've lived my life?
Hopefully most of us can say yes.

For the part of us that have a little worry, a little sadness....
This is the time to be present.
This is the time to be the person you want to be, that can die at peace, that can hope to every day be able to look yourself and the Universe in the eye and say, how beautiful, smiling, and thank you. Let's do that.

Antidotes to Violence, a.k.a., Take Charge of Where Your Head's At - here

Tell Congress to Strengthen Gun Control Laws NOW - here

Good News & Brain Food News -
Christians & Muslims Gather, for Peace here
Good News - Top RIO+20 Summit Posts here
The 'Busy' Trap - NYTimes.com
here