Brothers and Sisters at DailyKos - What we have forgotten

by brothers and sisters at dailykos

"Welcome to Brothers and Sisters, the weekly meetup for prayer* and community at Daily Kos.  We put an asterisk on pray* to acknowledge that not everyone uses conventional religious language, but may want to share joys and concerns, or simply take solace in a meditative atmosphere.  Anyone who comes in the spirit of mutual respect, warmth and healing is welcome."

What we have forgotten --

    The human race has become detached - unhinged and undone - from the natural world on which we depend.  As great, or greater, than the gulf between the "haves" and the "have-nots" is the overarching lack of connection between our collective consciousness and our planetary consciousness.

continued at Daily Kos...

Disruptive Technology, Micro Solar, and Recovery Act Innovation

by jamess

Technology is a double-edged sword.

It can spark the furnace, that keeps you alive in the winter.
It can spark a wild fire, that consumes all its path.

But then again, Lightning can cause the same damage --
WITHOUT the assist of human innovation.

Technology is a double-edged sword.

It can lead to increased crop production, to feed the masses;
which in turn, can lead to increased masses,
that taxes that same crop production.

Technology is a double-edged sword.

Sometimes the simplest of inventions --
can change the world;

often in ways, never imagined by the inventors.

Such innovations have been call "Disruptive Technology" --

because their impact, is SO unexpected,
and yet SO useful -- that they spin off other innovations,
and industries, and businesses, and even

entirely new 'ways of life' ...

continued at Daily Kos...

And on the Seventh Day, God said 'E.C.S.T.A.S.Y.' !

by DelicateMonster

There’s general agreement that the Bible has a word or two to say about man’s relationship to the environment. The most commonly quoted verse is from Genesis, 1:28:

...Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth (Gen. 1:28).

This can be read as God giving mankind free reign over every living creature, environmental consequences be damned. The more moderate view argues that man must act as responsible stewards for the earth and all its creatures. Both interpretations assume that Man, through the auspices of God, knows what’s best and that there’s a certain alignment between the notion of man’s continued ‘fruitfulness’ and a healthy environment.

But is that the case? What if man’s effort to ‘be fruitful and multiply’, to seek a stable food supply and to protect his species through the modest means of agriculture are actually what is causing (and has caused) environmental crisis after environmental crisis? Most available evidence indicates that’s exactly the case.

continued at Daily Kos...

The climate bill is dead. Long live the climate bill!

by lipowg

Months after the Waxman-Markey/Kerry-Lieberman bill died Harry Reid and environmentalists have finally admitted it is dead, and may even be ready to remove its rotting corpse from the living room and give it a decent burial.

Though the death was clearly murder by Republicans and "centrist" Democrats, malpractice from mainstream environmental groups helped kill a chance for the climate that a different treatment might have saved. The fundamental error was to try and pass a bill via deal-making rather than grass-roots pressure, partially on the  assumption that the Obama administration shared environmentalist priorities, and would spend political capital to pressure reluctant Senators and Congress members to support the bill. This fundamental error led to pre-compromising the legislation, making concession after concession in hopes of attracting support.

The rest below the fold, x-posted from Grist .

continued at Daily Kos...

News from the Arctic: 25 July 2010

by billlaurelMD

This is the next in an occasional series of diaries on the state of Northern Hemisphere Arctic sea ice (and other topics as warranted), written in memory of Johnny Rook, who passed away in early 2009. He was the author of the Climaticide Chronicles.

HEADLINES:

• Steady decline in Arctic sea ice, about par with 1979-2000 average rate.
• National Snow and Ice Data Center post a press release on the slowdown in Arctic sea ice loss
• Pressure and wind anomalies make a warm Siberia and cold northeast Europe

The obligatory Arctic web cam picture, this one from Barrow AK yesterday morning, is shown below.  
Barrow AK in the Fog

Barrow AK at 7:09 a.m. Alaska Time, 24 July 2010

More after the fold.

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JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! The political, economic, climate solution ...

by A Siegel

Since before the 2008 election, the core challenge for the incoming President was clear: JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!  

Yes, we were amid a collapse of the economic system, it required stabilization. JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!  

Yes, our energy situation was (is) a mess and the climate is boiling. JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!

Yes, our political system is broken. JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!

Yes, our health care is a mess. JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!

What is amazing is that sensible JOBS focused action can help on all the other fronts and set the stage for stronger action tomorrow.

continued at Daily Kos...

BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: 61

by Gulf Watchers

Please rec the new Mothership #62 here. This one has expired.
The current ROV DIARY: Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #241 - Ships Returning to the Site - BP's Gulf Catastrophe - Yasuragi

Rules of the Road

• We take volunteers for subsequent diaries in the sub diaries or ROV's as we have playfully coined them.
• Please rec this mothership diary, not the ROVs.
• Please be kind to fellow kossacks who may have limited bandwidth and refrain from posting images or videos.

PLEASE visit Crashing Vor and Pam LaPier's diaries to find out how you can help the Gulf now and in the future. We don't have to be idle! And thanks to Crashing Vor and Pam LaPier for working on this!

continued at Daily Kos...

Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Netroots Nation 2010 edition)

by Neon Vincent

Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment.

This week's featured story comes from Science News.

Voter madness
Home team victories may influence elections
By Laura Sanders

Whether politicians win or lose may come down to how local athletes play the game. When local football and basketball teams were victorious, voters were more pleased with elected officials, a study appearing online July 6 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds. The capricious link between sports teams and politicians’ performance is a clear example of how irrelevant events can shape important judgments.

Lakoff maintains that conservatives understand the irrational factor in politics better than liberals. It's time to use science to close that gap.

More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.

continued at Daily Kos...