Tuesday, April 30, 2019

HE SHOULD HAVE PUT IT ON AL's HARVARD READING LIST

Had  Roger Revelle compelled his young pupil Al Gore to read this 1965 White House report on CO2  as part of his Harvard science course, different policy questions might have arisen from Gore and Jim Hansen's famous 1988 Capitol Hill hearing on global warming:

It was not to be.  Applying himself with greater zeal to bridge and Harvard Student Council elections, Al failed to ace Revelle's magisterial course. 

Monday, April 29, 2019

PASS THE POPCORN SQUID, THIS IS GETTING INTERESTING



How to make sense of a world increasingly beset by systemic problems like inequality and climate change? The use of a creepy metaphor like “tentacle” helps. It suggests a connectedness between phenomena that are hard to visualize, let alone understand.

That very metaphor slithers through the latest by Dominican novelist and singer-songwriter, Rita Indiana... — Tentacle. 

Called La mucama de OmicunlĂ©  in the original Spanish, this beguiling but wonderfully thrilling book (translated into English by Achy Obejas) tells the story of Acilde Figueroa, a maid living in post-apocalyptic Santo Domingo, where the oceans run black with pollution and poor people are literally killed on the doorsteps of the wealthy. 

With the help of a magic sea anemone — and a fulfillment of prophesy — Acilde, who dreams of being male, finds the means to undergo a gender transition. He is then bestowed with the power to travel back in time to save Earth’s oceans. 

From beginning to end, Tentacle is a strange, unnerving, and at times beautiful book that critiques global inequality and the politicization of climate change. Moreover, it throws into question the rigidity of time-old categories of gender, race, and spiritual beliefs. Excitingly, it also amplifies a Dominican voice on the matter of climate change,


        ZUCKERBERG RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT FOR LIFE OF
                                 THE INTERNET OF THE DEAD

MIT Technology Review:

Dead Facebook users could outnumber

 living ones within 50 years


IT'S HARD TO DIRECT ADS TO THE DEMOGRAPHIC MAJORITY
The Oxford Internet Institute  has adduced "an extremely conservative scenario" in which Facebook gains no new users. In this case, at least 1.4 billion users will be dead by 2100 and the year 2070 would be the tipping point when the dead outnumber the living on Facebook. However, given it’s very unlikely Facebook user numbers will stay where they are now, this point will probably arrive far sooner.

The implications: Facebook recently released several updates for memorialized accounts (active accounts for people who have passed away), allowing people’s accounts to stay as they were before they died. It’s part of social media companies’ wider efforts to grapple with the thorny problem of what to do with dead people.

A balance: There’s a fine line between respecting dead people’s rights to privacy, and letting their friends and family deal with their affairs, for example closing accounts or paying bills (or just trying to avoid grief associated with reminders to wish “Happy Birthday to someone who has died.) None of the big tech firms seem to have fully figured out what to do about it yet, but as growing numbers of us live our lives online, the rise of the digital dead is an increasingly urgent issue.

Sunday, April 28, 2019

      WILLIE SOON, GEORGE WASHINGTON, GALILEO AND       ORWELL WALK INTO POPE LEO THE ELEVENTH'S BAR

Galileo and the Medicis brought Revolution and Truth – so should we now

Friday, April 26, 2019

     HEARTLAND AVENGERS VOW INFINITY CLIMATE WAR

In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos, the Mad Titan, certainly has a warped sense of environmental sustainability. 
[His] plan to save the galaxy from pending environmental doom is predicated upon eliminating roughly half of the universe’s population ...

Astonishingly, proponents of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) Green New Deal have an eerily similar strategy for environmental sustainability...

Like Thanos, Ocasio-Cortez and her minions crave... the mass slaughter of cows because cow flatulence contains methane ... We cannot wait to avenge this destruction. We must stop this dictatorial socialism before it gains traction.



Lennie Jarratt manages Heartland's
Center for  -Educating Transformers- Transforming Education

    SHAMANIC WIND DRUM CARRIERS OF THE WORLD UNITE !

Dare to declare capitalism dead – before it takes us all down with it

For most of my adult life I’ve railed against “corporate capitalism”, “consumer capitalism” and “crony capitalism”. It took me a long time to see that the problem is not the adjective but the noun. While some people have rejected capitalism gladly and swiftly, I’ve done so slowly and reluctantly. Part of the reason was that I could see no clear alternative: unlike some anti-capitalists, I have never been an enthusiast for state communism... But... I think I see a rough framework emerging. Part of it is provided by... the environmental thinking of...  Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq




THE NORTHERN LIGHTS HAVE SEEN STRANGE SIGHTS
Icewisdom - EN - Angaangaq AngakkorsuaqAngaangaq Angakkorsuaq, shaman, traditional healer, storyteller and carrier of the Qilaut (winddrum), is an Eskimo-Kalaallit Elder whose family belongs to the traditional healers from Kalaallit Nunaat, Greenland. His engagement for the Environment and Indigenous issues brought him to more than 70 countries in the world. His spiritual task - given by his mother - is to "melt the ice in the heart of men".

-- THE GUARDIAN 

                         THE VEGAN HEAT ISLAND EFFECT

  NYC  Vows to Start  ‘ Phasing Out ’ Hot Dogs to Save the Planet as Part of Their Own $14B Green New Deal

FIRST THEY CAME FOR THE SAUERKRAUT, BUT I WAS NOT ...

On Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-N.Y.) slapped his signature on his city’s blueprint for combatting climate change. Following in the footsteps of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), the city passed a Green New Deal to mobilize the city’s resources to combat climate change.
Unfortunately for hot dog lovers, the plan includes a goal of eliminating processed meat from all city-owned property.
According to NYC’s Green New Deal, hot dogs must go if New Yorkers want to maintain a “livable climate.” The plan details the city’s goal of “reducing the purchasing of beef and phasing out the purchasing of processed meat” from all city-owned facilities.
Similar to Ocasio-Cortez’s plan to “fully get rid of farting cows,” New York City aims to reduce the need for cows because of their production of the greenhouse gas methane.
 “You’re not going to find climate deniers in New York City because we suffered through (Hurricane) Sandy. We also believe the estimates that tell us that we have only 12 years to get it right. Let’s be clear, we have until 2030 to change things fundamentally, or our lives won’t be the same,” 
de Blasio said in an Earth Day event yesterday celebrating the new legislation for the city. Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams, who happens to be vegan himself, celebrated the new law.  
“I’m in for a Green New Deal. From grassroots advocates, who have been sounding the environmental alarm for decades, to my fellow local elected colleagues, our shared mission is to make aggressive moves that combat the climate change crisis threatening the very existence of our planet. 
I am particularly thrilled that this City has taken up our mantle to reduce our overconsumption of meat through the phasing out of processed meat purchasing and the reduction of beef purchasing; make no mistake, addressing the carbon-intensive activity of meat production is a sustainable solution for the health of our bodies and our planet alike. Nearly 50 years after the first Earth Day celebration, the clock is ticking on our ability to secure a sustainable future for our children and grandchildren.” 
Adams announced earlier that he plans to run for office of Mayor in 2021. In 2017, Adams worked with de Blasio to implement “Meatless Mondays” at 15 schools in Brooklyn, a program the mayor expanded to all 1,700 public schools in New York City this March.

... Leaders like de Blasio and Adams believe by drastically reducing New Yorker’s consumption of meat will lead to positive changes to local weather and global climate.

Thursday, April 25, 2019

TEMPERATURE SPIKE SPARKS GENERAL CLIMATE STRIKE

THE  STORMING OF THE US CAPTITOL SHOULD WARM THE HEARTS OF THE  GUARDIAN LEDE WRITERS  AND EXTINCTION REBELLION CHEERLEADERS WHO PROVIDED THIS INSPIRATIONAL PIECE: 

Greta Thunberg is right – only a general strike will force action on climate change


The current ineptitude and impotency of the ruling class is unacceptable when the consequences of inaction are so far-reaching. More than ever, it is time for workers – those who will be hardest hit by soaring food and healthcare costs, and by property destruction caused by natural disasters and the rising sea – to exert their power and force the hand of major players (governments and corporations) to avert what is almost certain to be the next global mass extinction.
As such, climate activism of all types is blossoming. Greta Thunberg’s school strikes led to one of the largest global climate demonstrations in history. Extinction Rebellion has shut down major intersections in London and held events around the world. The Sunrise Movement caught the attention of the US when children in San Francisco confronted the Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein over her climate policy. Indigenous groups across the globe have been fighting tooth and nail against resource development on their ancestral lands. And Earth Strike is preparing for a global general strike on 27 September 2019.


Through all of this, as Greta Thunberg has said, one thing must be made clear. There is no greater way to capture the attention of the public, and the powers that be, than a general labour strike. An old and effective strategy, it is the holy grail of activism. And in such dire times, there is no question that a general strike is sorely needed once more. Earth Strike is seeking to revive the general strike in service of a global, apocalyptic problem – one that encompasses the lives of every creature on the face of this planet.

                    MUCH  LESS BORING THAN PANDACAMS                  

     THE LONGER THEY WAIT, THE MORE WEIGHT THEY LOSE

TSA HAS FOUND ITS PLACE IN DECARBONIZATION !
Using weight to optimize aircraft fuel also raises questions about whether airlines will try to save money by carrying as little fuel as possible. This could increase the chance of airplanes having to make unscheduled fuel stops when delays or diversions occur, possibly leading to more cancellations.
Fuscone says it would be up to the airline how it uses the weight data to optimize fuel levels. Theoretically, he says, it could result in lower ticket prices. 


Tuesday, April 23, 2019

WHAT ABOUT THE WORDS "AND" AND "THE"

Climate Change: The Facts’ Was the BBC’s 

Biggest Lie Ever


                                   
His craft  has been ebbing of late
"The increasingly unwatchable and slavishly woke BBC plumbed new depths last night ... Even the programme’s title was a lie... 
It lied about the cause of wildfires; 
it lied about heatwaves; 
it lied about storms and floods; 
it lied about polar melting; 
it lied about sea levels; 
it lied about coral reefs; 
it lied about droughts... 
                                                        If you liked Triumph of the Will 
                                                        you’re going to love Our Planet.

Attenborough’s new Netflix series uses exactly the  same  techniques: manipulative  music , a trembly voiceover  making  all  manner of
scientifically dubious assertions in order to scare the viewer ... 
But Climate Change: the Facts was more unscrupulous and dishonest still."


Monday, April 22, 2019

EPA BANS PLASTIC EASTER EGGS TO CUT OCEAN POLLUTION

As we celebrate Earth Day, I want to take a moment to thank each of you for your hard work and dedication to protecting public health and the environment. Our Nation is blessed with magnificent land and waterways, abundant natural resources, and unique wildlife. I know that each and every one of us is committed to ensuring that all Americans can continue to enjoy and benefit from these natural gifts for generations to come.
This Earth Day, I will be joining DC Water and Japan’s Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Sugiyama, out on the Anacostia River highlighting one of the top environmental challenges facing the world today—marine litter. 
Increasing recycling and reducing marine litter is just one of the many ways that EPA is working to address a host of water issues both domestically and internationally. From providing access to clean and safe drinking water, to cleaning up rivers and waterways, to improving water infrastructure, we are elevating our efforts to address these important issues.
Today, and throughout the rest of the week, EPA senior leadership and staff will be participating in events to highlight our work to address water issues, celebrate our accomplishments, and serve our communities.

GREENWIRE

 NEW SOLAR COLLECTOR TO POWER CHRYSLER BUILDING

De Blasio to Skyscrapers: 
Drop Dead!
NOW WITH SPIRAL TESLA RAMP FOR GREEN HANDICAPPED ACCESS
“We’re going to ban the classic glass and steel skyscrapers" said the mayor of New York City...

De Blasio was asked on Morning Joe by co-host Joe Scarborough how New York's "Green New Deal" can "provide a road map" for members of Congress looking to implement policies that will fight climate change. Congressional efforts—led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–N.Y.) and others—to pass a Green New Deal made headlines in February, though the measure failed in the Senate last month by a 57–0 vote.

"We're actually making the Green New Deal come alive here in New York City," de Blasio told Scarborough. "This mandate is going to ensure that we reduce emissions.We're going to ban the classic glass and steel skyscrapers which are incredibly inefficient," de Blasio said.

About 50,000 buildings will be affected, CNBC reported. "To get down to even 20 percent from where I am today, with the technology that exists, there's nothing more that I can do. It's not like there's this magic wand."

Saturday, April 20, 2019

    BALL PUBLISHES LATEST INSTALLMENT OF LAST WORDS

An End… and a New Direction
WUWT Guest Editorial: Dr. Tim Ball

                           THE OTHER CHILDREN'S CRUSADE


WHILE GRETA THUNBERG WAS LAUNCHING HER CLIMATE STRIKE LAST AUGUST, VISCOUNT MONCKTON & WILLIE SOON WERE EXHORTING  JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY YOUTH CAMPERS 
TO KEEP AMERICA OUT OF THE PARIS ACCORD

SHE DEBUTED AS  MONCKTON WAS FIRING UP THE CAMP CONSTITUTION KIDS,