Friday, December 3, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Passing of a Great --- Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn, a man who spoke truth to power without fear without flinching. A man to be respected, admired and remembered. A man to be embodied in the things that we do. Howard Zinn lives on. Howard Zinn is in me and I know in many, many other people all around the world. He is a new perspective. He is determination and responsibility and freedom. In reverence I commit Howard Zinn to all my waking actions. Peace gentle warrior. You are loved and cherished beyond recognition.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
What are we thinking--- Nevada water contamination
How many times will this have to happen before we realize that water is paramount, that we must revere and worship our water, that we are walking water, and that money should never trump water and water quality. When we as humans come to this basic conceptualization that water is us and that water connects us to all life, our environmental problems will begin to lessen. And this reverence for water will bring us to the conceptualization that we are all connected and our problems with hate and violence among humans will begin to lessen.
A very basic change in conceptualization will change the world!
A very basic change in conceptualization will change the world!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Forever Bound
Nuclear is forever (at least compared to our lives). Los Alamos is a toxic legacy for the foreseeable future. Nuclear materials are never safe. Water is our most precious resource. Water is us. Nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons will be the toxic legacy of our century for millennia to come. The sooner we realize this, the brighter the outlook for future generations. Our present course leaves death and destruction in our wake.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
A Bright Future
Surely Graham is going for his interests, which typically amounts to more money and power to his supporters. Politics plays politics and we see how his interests come into the mix of the solutions that we are offered. This is the nature of politics and because of the dominance of economics in our political compromising discussions nearly every option we see supports money and power in the background. Actually that is the very heart of our political process and it is the crux of our inability to legislate options that further our universal common interests.
That said, nuclear power is by far our most insidious choice for generating electricity. As documented in the article it really only exists as an option for us because of the billions of dollars of subsidies that it has received. Though the actual dangers to the present environment from operating nuclear plants may appear rather low, (however, have you seen Chernobyl Heart ?), the legacy of deadly toxic radioactive wastes (some for more than 200,000 years), and the pollution of our water from extraction, processing and operations are passed off to future generations.
And isn’t it really our purpose in time and place to leave a better world for our children? Considering that human history has consisted of warring and fighting throughout, and our present world situation brings hate and warfare to entirely new more macabre levels, how can we reasonably leave deadly toxic materials (which we have no means of safe permanent storage and disposal –despite Graham’s efforts to legislate such) as a legacy for future generations to manage and safeguard? Judging from history, these wastes will be a toxic legacy that will feed new wars and conflicts seemingly forever (unless of course nuclear materials are used to deaden life on the planet).
The solution? Localized renewable energy sources supplemented with electricity from major renewable electricity generation plants situated in locations ideal for the energy source. One problem that comes to mind with such a plan is that it largely frees consumers from paying money to an energy company. I have generated 90% of my electricity from solar for the past 20 years and have not paid a single electricity bill. You can do it. We can do it. But the econ-politics (including Graham) must be removed to make way for a bright future.
That said, nuclear power is by far our most insidious choice for generating electricity. As documented in the article it really only exists as an option for us because of the billions of dollars of subsidies that it has received. Though the actual dangers to the present environment from operating nuclear plants may appear rather low, (however, have you seen Chernobyl Heart ?), the legacy of deadly toxic radioactive wastes (some for more than 200,000 years), and the pollution of our water from extraction, processing and operations are passed off to future generations.
And isn’t it really our purpose in time and place to leave a better world for our children? Considering that human history has consisted of warring and fighting throughout, and our present world situation brings hate and warfare to entirely new more macabre levels, how can we reasonably leave deadly toxic materials (which we have no means of safe permanent storage and disposal –despite Graham’s efforts to legislate such) as a legacy for future generations to manage and safeguard? Judging from history, these wastes will be a toxic legacy that will feed new wars and conflicts seemingly forever (unless of course nuclear materials are used to deaden life on the planet).
The solution? Localized renewable energy sources supplemented with electricity from major renewable electricity generation plants situated in locations ideal for the energy source. One problem that comes to mind with such a plan is that it largely frees consumers from paying money to an energy company. I have generated 90% of my electricity from solar for the past 20 years and have not paid a single electricity bill. You can do it. We can do it. But the econ-politics (including Graham) must be removed to make way for a bright future.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Water for Kids
Very sad that we treat our children with such disrespect. We create and use items and materials with toxic qualities. We spew our wastes all around us. Alternatives exist but they are not 'economically' feasible. Our choices are shaped by paths of profit.
As the article reports:
An Associated Press investigation found that contaminants have surfaced at public and private schools in all 50 states — in small towns and inner cities alike.
Experts and children's advocates complain that responsibility for drinking water is spread among too many local, state and federal agencies, and that risks are going unreported. Finding a solution, they say, would require a costly new national strategy for monitoring water in schools.
"There is just no excuse for this. Period," said California Sen. Barbara Boxer, Democratic chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. "We want to make sure that we fix this problem in a way that it will never happen again, and we can ensure parents that their children will be safe."
The problem is everywhere. It will only get worse as more of the residuals from the profit driven sputum make their way into our shared time and globe spanning water systems. The solution is global coordination with policy and action... coordination that insures a clean healthy world for our progeny rather than marketplace wealth... coordination where water trumps profits. That is how you guarantee that this will not happen again, Senator Boxer.
As the article reports:
An Associated Press investigation found that contaminants have surfaced at public and private schools in all 50 states — in small towns and inner cities alike.
Experts and children's advocates complain that responsibility for drinking water is spread among too many local, state and federal agencies, and that risks are going unreported. Finding a solution, they say, would require a costly new national strategy for monitoring water in schools.
"There is just no excuse for this. Period," said California Sen. Barbara Boxer, Democratic chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. "We want to make sure that we fix this problem in a way that it will never happen again, and we can ensure parents that their children will be safe."
The problem is everywhere. It will only get worse as more of the residuals from the profit driven sputum make their way into our shared time and globe spanning water systems. The solution is global coordination with policy and action... coordination that insures a clean healthy world for our progeny rather than marketplace wealth... coordination where water trumps profits. That is how you guarantee that this will not happen again, Senator Boxer.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Energy Wars and Destruction
At heart this problem is the result of economics. We live in a world where the struggle for profit trumps most other options. In our economic system, whoever gets to market quickest and cheapest wins the game. Governments and corporations are struggling to gain as much as possible, as cheaply as possible. There are few values in the marketplace other than the profit which all players understand.
So our energy options and energy futures are not being driven by concern for the health and well being of any of the citizens of the world. Our world is spinning out of control wobbling ever more to a topsy-turvy condition. Be it wars over energy resources, climate destruction, aberrant virus, water depletion and contamination or water wars, our national and world economies are driving us to disaster.
Like it or not, our path out of these armageddons is through global communication, cooperation and coordination. These are the values that must replace the quest for the most dollars. Our world has shrunk and the impacts and influences across all these crisis areas extend to all humans and all planetary systems. Nationalism is a dead end street. Unrestrained capitalism is a dead end street. The sooner we as a race recognize this very basic conflict of interests that appears to rule our world, the brighter and more intact we will come out the other side.
And as far as energy is concerned, I have learned clearly and firsthand how contrived the situation really is. For the past 20 years I have lived and run a business on solar power. I live in an area with moderate solar potential and derive about 90% of that energy from the sun. I am not hooked up to an electric grid. The system is very basic with most components lasting decades. I have not paid an electric bill during this period of time, and during operations I produce practically no environmental contamination. This is easy to accomplish. Imagine if $100 billion that it might cost to develop a new energy field were directed in this direction. Unfortunately (fortunately?) there is little profit to energy producers from my operations after installing this system. Not much incentive. So it is incumbent upon each of us, to communicate, cooperate and coordinate with our fellow humans, tighten our belts and build the future on vision not profit.
So our energy options and energy futures are not being driven by concern for the health and well being of any of the citizens of the world. Our world is spinning out of control wobbling ever more to a topsy-turvy condition. Be it wars over energy resources, climate destruction, aberrant virus, water depletion and contamination or water wars, our national and world economies are driving us to disaster.
Like it or not, our path out of these armageddons is through global communication, cooperation and coordination. These are the values that must replace the quest for the most dollars. Our world has shrunk and the impacts and influences across all these crisis areas extend to all humans and all planetary systems. Nationalism is a dead end street. Unrestrained capitalism is a dead end street. The sooner we as a race recognize this very basic conflict of interests that appears to rule our world, the brighter and more intact we will come out the other side.
And as far as energy is concerned, I have learned clearly and firsthand how contrived the situation really is. For the past 20 years I have lived and run a business on solar power. I live in an area with moderate solar potential and derive about 90% of that energy from the sun. I am not hooked up to an electric grid. The system is very basic with most components lasting decades. I have not paid an electric bill during this period of time, and during operations I produce practically no environmental contamination. This is easy to accomplish. Imagine if $100 billion that it might cost to develop a new energy field were directed in this direction. Unfortunately (fortunately?) there is little profit to energy producers from my operations after installing this system. Not much incentive. So it is incumbent upon each of us, to communicate, cooperate and coordinate with our fellow humans, tighten our belts and build the future on vision not profit.
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