It's Getting Hot in Here (and I don't like Nelly)

Global warming is the greatest threat facing the world today. Despite President Bush's belief that "the jury is still out" on global warming, the jury has definetly returned a verdict. It's happening.

The Union of Concerned Scientists has published the following facts:


-Since the beginning of the 20th century, Earth's mean surface temperature has increased by about 1.1°F (0.6°C).

-Over the last 40 years, which is the period with the most reliable data, the temperature increased by about 0.5°F (0.2-0.3°C).

-Warming in the 20th century is greater than at any time during the past 400 to 600 years.


-Seven of the 10 warmest years in the 20th century occurred in the 1990s. In fact, the hottest year since reliable instrumental temperature measurements began was 1998, when global temperatures spiked due to one of the strongest El Niños on record.

Unfortunately, Mr. Bush has viewed these facts and decided on a policy of benign neglect, that includes initiatives such as backing out of the international Kyoto Protocal to reduce global warming, ultimately signed by over 160 nations, given tax breaks to businesses to purchase SUV's, redirected federal mass transportation funds to build highways, and is now trying to pass an energy bill that while throwing a few bones like a modest ethanol proposal and research money for fuel cells that won't be on the mass market for at least 20 years, seeks to deal with high gas prices by increasing oil refining capacity rather than any serious commitments to hybrid cars, mass transportation, or wind power.

So, in an attempt to send the White House a message, please take the time to participate in stopglobalarming.org 's virtual march on Washington, at my personal march page, www.stopglobalwarming.org/campaigns/sgw/impact/992340e1328dfb6e7bf955cadbc0a86e/ .

And for practible solutions that wil curb global warming and create the jobs of the future, i highly reccomend www.apolloalliance.org .

"The Greatest Geopolitical Catastrophe" of the 20th Century? Oh Really, Mr. Putin?

Today in his state-of-the-dictatorship speech, ex-KGB officer and current Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the fall of the USSR was the greatest "geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century.

This follows three days after Mr. Putin met with the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled since 1994 in a country commonly known as the last dictatorship of Europe, that routienly violates the human rights of its citizens. In that meeting, Mr. Lukashenko thanked Mr. Putin for his support, saying "I want to thank you... for the huge support you are giving us at a difficult time for us in our history as a sovereign and independent nation," meaning support during a time of fierce criticism from Secretary Rice, western nations and human rights groups.

Over the past few years, Mr. Putin has destroyed all non-state-owned media in Russia, eliminated popular voting for regional governors in exchange for appointment by him, jailed Yukos oil tycoon Mikhail Khordokovsky on pretextual charges for his financing of Mr. putin's political opposition, and is now moving to change the parlimentary election system to virtually eliminate minor parties.

Well, one thing is sure- you have to give credit to President Bush's judgement of character:

"I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straight forward and trustworthy and we had a very good dialogue.
I was able to get a sense of his soul." -President Bush on 6/16/2001

Hmmmm... maybe if we didn't import 270,000 barrels of oil per DAY from Russia, we might have some more leverage to convince Mr. Putin of a different course.

Did I forget to mention that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives defeated a bill to raise the automobile mile-per-gallon standard to 33 mpg by 2015 up from 27 mpg the day before Earth Day, mostly along party lines.

Continue your crusade for democracy, GOP.

Never Again

60 years ago this week, Allied troops liberated the Bergen-Belsen death camp in Nazi Germany. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were murdered by Nazi war criminals there (including Anne Frank), while Hitler's opponents mostly turned a blind eye. I feel I cannot adequately portray the horrors in words, so I suggest everyone look at the camp's memorial's official website, http://www.bergenbelsen.de/en/ .

After the Holocaust, the civilized world said that never, ever, could this be allowed to happen again. To some extent it hasn't- the efficient, mechanized, economized, beaurocratic killing of a single immutable group has never been repeated on nearly such a scale, but that could be because Nazi Germany was the last industrialized nation to participate in genocide (Stalin's purges notwithstanding, because they were more political, not racist/religionist, in nature). After the Holocaust, the newly-created United Nations adopted the International Declaration of Human Rights and the International Convention on Genocide, as well as creating new precedent in international law with the prosecution of Nazis at the Nuremberg trials. It seemed as if the post-war era had ushered in a new age of international oversight on human-rights violations, or at least, genocide. Then there was Cambodia. And Rwanda. And East Timor. And the Balkans. While none of these genocides equaled the Holocaust in terms of numbers and the mechanized nature of the killing, they were genocides nonetheless, and the west was painfully slow in responding the each of them. Now there is Sudan. Current estimates project at least 300,000 people murdered. To put that in perspective, that's roughly the population of Cleveland, in a country with a population of about twice the New York Metro Area. The victims are eliminated solely because they are of a minority religion within the country. This has been happening for about the last two years. Our Air Force could easily make mincemeat out of the militia primarily responsible for the murder, the Janjaweed, and the regime that supports them. Yet, we do nothing.


Again.

"The Future Starts Today, not Tomorrow." Pope John Paul II 1920-2005

Yesterday, Pope John Paul II passed away, a survivor of Nazism, a crusader against Communism, and a worldwide champion of peace and human rights.


“You are priests, not social or political leaders. Let us not be under the illusion that we are serving the Gospel through an exaggerated interest in the wide field of temporal problems.”

“Man always travels along precipices. His truest obligation is to keep his balance.”

“The Holy Land needs bridges, not walls.”

“Violence and arms can never resolve the problems of men.”

"The truth is not always the same as the majority decision."

"Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one mustn't misuse it"

"Anything done for another is done for oneself."

"Be not afraid."

"I have a sweet tooth for song and music. This is my Polish sin."

"An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded."

“Humanity should question itself, once more, about the absurd and always unfair phenomenon of war, on whose stage of death and pain only remain standing the negotiating table that could and should have prevented it."

“Young people are threatened... by the evil use of advertising techniques that stimulate the natural inclination to avoid hard work by promising the immediate satisfaction of every desire.”

“When freedom does not have a purpose, when it does not wish to know anything about the rule of law engraved in the hearts of men and women, when it does not listen to the voice of conscience, it turns against humanity and society.”

“The historical experience of socialist countries has sadly demonstrated that collectivism does not do away with alienation but rather increases it, adding to it a lack of basic necessities and economic inefficiency.”

“Modern Society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its lifestyles.”

“It is unbecoming for a cardinal to ski badly.”

“Radical changes in world politics leave America with a heightened responsibility to be, for the world, an example of a genuinely free, democratic, just and humane society.”