Sunday, November 21, 2010

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

If there was an observer on Mars, they would probably be amazed that we have survived this long. There are two problems for our species' survival - nuclear war and environmental catastrophe - and we're hurtling towards them. Knowingly. This hypothetical Martian would probably conclude that human beings were an evolutionary error. --- Noam Chomsky

I HOPE THIS WORKS

 
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Monday, September 06, 2010

HAPPY LABOR DAY

Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that - counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.

"Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans."

--- Robert Kennedy . . . 1968 unemployment was 3.7%

Sunday, September 05, 2010

PLANET CHECK

* Greenland Ice Sheet loses 100 square miles, biggest loss since 1962 (Aug. 2010)

* Russia's drought-driven halt to wheat exports panics world grain markets (Aug. 2010)

* Pakistan's worst flood in recorded history claims some 1,100 lives (July, 2010)

* International study confirms accelerating warming trend (July, 2010)

* Rapid decline in phytoplankton population stuns scientists (July, 2010)

* Flash floods seen increasing as Milwaukee gets eight inches in two hours (July, 2010)

* Senate climate bill collapses (July, 2010)

* Coral reef deaths soar in record ocean heat (July, 2010)

* First half of 2010 was hottest such period on record (July, 2010)

* Carbon lobby launches "CO2 is Green" campaign (July, 2010)

* Massive Greenland glacier retreats one mile in one night (July, 2010)

* Military declares climate change "a catalyst for conflict" (June, 2010)

* Malaria soars with small rainforest reductions (June, 2010)

* Oceans have stored more heat than they released since 1993 (May, 2010)

* Climate change is causing "irreversible" destruction of ocean life systems (June, 2010)

* Himalayan glacier melt puts 60 million people at risk of food shortages (June, 2010)

* Warming pushes many small mammal species to the brink (June, 2010)

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

A TASTE OF WISDOM

A yogi grew tired of his apprentice complaining, and so one morning, sent him for some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. “How does it taste?” the master asked. “Bitter,” spit the apprentice. The master chuckled & then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt & put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake, & once the apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, the old man said, “Now drink from the lake.” As the water dripped down the young man’s chin, the master asked, “How does it taste?” “Fresh,” remarked the apprentice. “Do you taste the salt?” asked the master. “No,” said the young man. At this, the master sat beside this serious young man, who so reminded him of himself, & took his hands, offering: “The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains exactly the same. However, the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in. So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.