my Thinking spot: i thought about a 'year in recap' post

31 December 2006

i thought about a 'year in recap' post

but i won't. you all were there. :) instead, some randoms are in order for this kid.

***
finally, some wintery-feeling weather! we got around to watching 'an inconvenient truth' the other night. it didn't help much that it was 60 degrees out. there wasn't too much in it new for me after taking the course about global warming this summer, but it was still a great viewing for me and i'd recommend it to anyone that hasn't seen it yet. the way he presents the data is key, though i don't quite get all of the political stuff he threw in on top of it. when will said that he found it to be a bit of a political campaign commercial, i said that it worked. seriously. i told will that i'd vote for him tomorrow if he did something, ANYTHING about this mess we've created for ourselves.

while i'm not one for making resolutions, i'm going to do more this year to further cut back on our CO2 emissions and push harder for change on a larger scale... i looked through our bills today and they are reflecting the changes we made in our gas and electric consumption over the past year. it was more than i even expected it to be! it's a drop in the bucket, i know, but it's definitely a start! now we need to somehow lick all the aspects of oil, even beyond gasoline. i posted this piece up a way's back, i think before anyone was really reading, so i'll link it again. the photograph always blows mind my, no matter how many times i see it! so much to do, so little time... the planet is warming, we're running out of natural gas and oil... what next? don't answer that.

***

after reading the frog's post yesterday about saddam hussein's execution and bush's soundbite, i'm still disgusted. probably more now than yesterday. he quotes bush as saying, "Today, Saddam Hussein was executed after receiving a fair trial -- the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal regime."

fair trial?!?! justice?!?!?! it was no fairer than what he did to the hundreds of thousands that he executed - save for the time consuming falsity of a "trial." we all knew what the verdict would be the moment he was captured. leader hung, public beheading - dead is dead. murder is murder. as for justice? pleeeeassssse. we LET him kill all of those people who did nothing more than speak out against him and this present war has nothing to do with humanitarian effort. it reeks. and it boggles the mind to think of how many people actually believe this has anything to do with iraqi freedom.
oh wait. the 'operation' has a new name now: renewal in iraq.

***

apparently amazon.com thinks i'm a heathen too. barnes and noble had the monopoly on books that i needed for school over the past several years, so i always tried to find them in the local independent places. when that would fail, i'd turn to amazon's used section, as they usually would feature some mom and pop type places i could order from.

i got this note today from amazon: As someone who has purchased books on religion and spirituality from Amazon.com, you might like to know about our new Bible Store.

a bible store? i had to see this. assload is the only way to describe it. there are HUNDREDS of bibles in there! in a ton of categories, even! of course i'm wondering what bibles have to do with my very few spirituality orders placed, but, whatever. it's cool. i'm used to assumptions. and you can never go wrong with bibles.

it's like when people used to look at me and ask if i had any rolling papers back in my barkeeping days. come to think of it, people used to always ask me if i had coke, too.
seems that people have to do drugs to get to where i'am naturally.

***

and lastly - here's to all of my new friends i've found here in bloggerdom. you've saved my sanity, stretched my brain muscles and provided comic relief just when i needed it - and to all of my old pals that i've reconnected with this year - cheers! and for everyone - may this be our BEST. YEAR. YET.

may a new way come to being this year - one that embraces the well-being of the planet and ALL of her people!

***

i can't believe there isn't a different video for this song floating around out there somewhere, but it will have to do. this song has been in my head all day, thanks to all of the auld lang syne references. it always makes me cry, i heart it.

be safe out there. and i'll see you next year!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
i couldn't resist.

Labels: an inconvenient truth, cheers, hussein hanging, same old lang syne

Name: supergirlest

"if you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito." ~african proverb

View my complete profile

the spot is best viewed with mozilla firefox

get firefox!

syracuse cultural workers

Your Power Bird is an Owl

You are beyond wise. You are so smart, you're almost prophetic. Your inner voice always speaks the truth, and you take the time to listen to it. You are good at seeing who people are... including the darkness of others. As a result, you tend to have a rather dark - yet realistic - outlook on life.

What's Your Power Bird?

Get your own calendar

Global Voices Online - The world is talking. Are you listening?

IRAQBODYCOUNT

Cost of the War in Iraq

(JavaScript Error)

To see more details, click here.

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!

Q: What causes global warming?

A: Carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to warm up. Coal-burning power plants are the largest U.S. source of carbon dioxide pollution -- they produce 2.5 billion tons every year. Automobiles, the second largest source, create nearly 1.5 billion tons of CO2 annually.

Q: Is the earth really getting hotter?

A: Yes. Although local temperatures fluctuate naturally, over the past 50 years the average global temperature has increased at the fastest rate in recorded history. And experts think the trend is accelerating: the 10 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1990. Scientists say that unless we curb global warming emissions, average U.S. temperatures could be 3 to 9 degrees higher by the end of the century.

Q: Are warmer temperatures causing bad things to happen?

A: Global warming is already causing damage in many parts of the United States. In 2002, Colorado, Arizona and Oregon endured their worst wildfire seasons ever. The same year, drought created severe dust storms in Montana, Colorado and Kansas, and floods caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in Texas, Montana and North Dakota. Since the early 1950s, snow accumulation has declined 60 percent and winter seasons have shortened in some areas of the Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington. Of course, the impacts of global warming are not limited to the United States. In 2003, extreme heat waves caused more than 20,000 deaths in Europe and more than 1,500 deaths in India. And in what scientists regard as an alarming sign of events to come, the area of the Arctic's perennial polar ice cap is declining at the rate of 9 percent per decade.

Q: Is global warming making hurricanes worse?

A: Global warming doesn't create hurricanes, but it does make them stronger and more dangerous. Because the ocean is getting warmer, tropical storms can pick up more energy and become more powerful. So global warming could turn, say, a category 3 storm into a much more dangerous category 4 storm. In fact, scientists have found that the destructive potential of hurricanes has greatly increased along with ocean temperature over the past 35 years.

Q: Is there really cause for serious concern?

A: Yes. Global warming is a complex phenomenon, and its full-scale impacts are hard to predict far in advance. But each year scientists learn more about how global warming is affecting the planet, and many agree that certain consequences are likely to occur if current trends continue. Among these: 1. Melting glaciers, early snowmelt and severe droughts will cause more dramatic water shortages in the American West. 2. Rising sea levels will lead to coastal flooding on the Eastern seaboard, in Florida, and in other areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico. 3. Warmer sea surface temperatures will fuel more intense hurricanes in the southeastern Atlantic and Gulf coasts. 4. Forests, farms and cities will face troublesome new pests and more mosquito-borne diseases. 5. Disruption of habitats such as coral reefs and alpine meadows could drive many plant and animal species to extinction.

Q: Could global warming trigger a sudden catastrophe?

A: Recently, researchers -- and even the U.S. Defense Department -- have investigated the possibility of abrupt climate change, in which gradual global warming triggers a sudden shift in the earth's climate, causing parts of the world to dramatically heat up or cool down in the span of a few years.

Q: What country is the largest source of global warming pollution?

A: The United States. Though Americans make up just 4 percent of the world's population, we produce 25 percent of the carbon dioxide pollution from fossil-fuel burning -- by far the largest share of any country. In fact, the United States emits more carbon dioxide than China, India and Japan, combined. Clearly America ought to take a leadership role in solving the problem. And as the world's top developer of new technologies, we are well positioned to do so -- we already have the know-how.

Q: How can we cut global warming pollution?

A: It's simple: By reducing pollution from vehicles and power plants. Right away, we should put existing technologies for building cleaner cars and more modern electricity generators into widespread use. We can increase our reliance on renewable energy sources such as wind, sun and geothermal. And we can manufacture more efficient appliances and conserve energy.

GLOBAL WARMING LINKS:

message moi!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We have posted it here in an effort to advance the understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific, social justice and other issues. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. The material in this site is provided for educational and informational purposes only.

my Thinking spot

31 December 2006

i thought about a 'year in recap' post

About Me

but wait! there's more! blogs i heart

active interest links

good biz

daily a-musings...

as we speak...

OUT OF IRAQ BLOGROLL

send me email?