Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing


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For the past few weeks news sources have talked about the dangerous influence alternative fuels have on our cost of food.

I began this two-part series Monday with a piece, “The World Food Crisis: A Hydra-headed Monster.” Trivializing human suffering on a scale impossible to imagine by this writer and those who read what I write is easy. How can you wrap your mind around this reality?

Since I was having Marvin L. Zimmerman, the author of The Ovum Factor, on my radio show (http://www.blogtalkradio.com/liberalpro you can hear the podcast of the interview there), it meant that I was obliged to peruse the novel that was sent to me by his publicist. The Ovum Factor arrived at my home, and before I got a chance to look through it, my wife picked it up first and wouldn’t let go of it for three days. During that time my dinner was late, I had to do the vacuuming (the dogs are shedding), and I had no real conversation with her as her head was behind the novel. When she finished it, she just looked at me and said “Wow”. That meant only one thing… I had to read it.

I recently read a Mallard Fillmore comic strip that bothered me. If you don’t know Mallard Fillmore, he is a conservative duck that makes Rush Limbaugh type outrageous remarks on the comic pages of many newspapers.

Even though a renowned Scientist has predicted that an Apocalypse of unimaginable severity awaits us because of global warming, there is hope, and while several other scientists believe we may have already reached the "tipping point" - and we have if we don't take action very quickly on a global basis, there is hope, because Peace and Mitigating Climate Change can be far more profitable than war! There are rumors which I have verified that indicate a global peace initiative may be in the offing in the very near future, and it will be a non-political organization that will work to establish a global initiative to help bring about world peace and a plan to mitigate global warming which has an enormous potential to be effective once the entire global community becomes involved. I am not at liberty to delve further into that issue right now, but am stating that even as I'm writing, the efforts are being made to establish this forum of renowned scientists and peace activists and may offer our only means of achieving Peace and mitigating climate change - and they don't originate from the United States.

Individually and collectively we are facing more than a technical or human systems crisis in the knowledge that we have, and still are, creating a global climate meltdown through the continued expansion of a fossil fueled, industrial revolution driven, global capitalist consumption economy.

Ronald Reagan had a vision. You might not agree with his vision. You might not even agree with the premises of his vision but you can not say that he did not have a vision. His vision was based on the propaganda that he voiced through out World War II. His propaganda ignored the reality that many Americans faced every day.

Joe Lieberman ... a name to drive most here to hypertension.  A name all too often connected with mistaken paths, whether on Iraq or Iraq or Habeas Corpus or ...

Is this name about to take a shift and take a leading position in the US Senate on what is, quite likely, the defining issue of the century?

At the moment, there is the Lieberman-Warner bill on Global Warming.  It is, well, marginal and focus on seven years, rather than seven generations. 

Has Joe changed his mind on a critical issue, suggesting that he is placing Americans (and the globe's) interests before the concerns of special interests?

For years now I haven't cared about the debate over whether "global warming" is happening or whether it is "human induced."  I think it is a moot question that we keep arguing about instead of doing anything useful about our profligate habits.

Up for grabs (in the Arctic), as much as a quarter of the world’s oil and gas reserves; as well as nickel, gold and diamond.

Global Warming is a massive challenge. It requires serious commitment for change toward a better tomorrow, change from government and from individuals. Government action can help drive (and facilitate) individual action. And, well, individual action -- individuals acting in concert -- can help drive government action.

That second, individuals combining to drive a government response, is the core to Step-It-Up. And, after a massive set of actions earlier this year (1400 rallies across the nation), Bill McKibben is organizing another day of citizen engagement for 3 November 2007. This is something that everyone (EVERYONE) should engage with ...

From Bill's newsletter,

There are occasional moments in history when we desperately need leadership, and this is one of them. If we’re going to deal with global warming, then we need to go beyond politicians who say the right words and find champions who will actually do the tough work to transform our energy economy.

Amid the discussions of Global Warming today and in the years to come, vigilance to language, to framing, to nuance is and will remain an imperative as we seek a path forward to a sustainable and prosperous energy future (Energize America).

In Chilean Patagonia resides Bernardo O'Higgins National Park, the largest of Chile's protected areas.

The park includes a great part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. One of its main attractions is the glacier Pío XI, from which enormous ice blocks periodically spall. The Pío XI glacier is the largest glacier of the South hemisphere outside of Antarctica, covering an area of 1,265 km², advancing over the past 50 years by more than 10 kilometers; one of its tongues measures approximately 6 kilometers. The ice face of the glacier is approximately 75 meters in height (about 30 floors of a conventional building) and the falling ice generates waves exceeding 10 meters in height; significant enough to rock larger vessels. Other outlet glaciers are Chico, O'Higgins, Jorge Montt, Bernardo, Témpano, Occidental, Greve, Penguin and Amalia.

In May, it was discovered that a lake which had been 10-12 acres in size was no longer there, leaving a 130 foot deep crater. Two months prior, all had appeared to be normal.

On Monday, scientists were able to draw preliminary conclusions that the lake's disappearance was a caused by global warming.

The obfuscation effort, the campaign to confuse the globe on Global Warming continues unabated despite Exxon's well-publicized claims to cut off funding for their campaign.

A coming cold day for a warm globe, in that stalwart of rational journalism -- The Washington Times, is another shot in the battle to confuse on facts to inhibit rational decision-making on how to deal with Global Warming challenges.

To start with, this is The Washington Times and, well, how seriously balanced can one consider an article that rants about "the received theology of the Worldwide Church of Science" with "Archbishop Gore". In other words, the article will speak well to those who are ideologically oriented (e.g., Times readership?) to reject Global Warming, no matter the information -- this is not speaking to anyone concerned about Reality-Based policy making.