Solitude

by jamess

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

 ~ Henry David Thoreau, 1854

Loneliness can be conquered only by those who can bear solitude.

 ~ Paul Tillich

Solitude ...

it's one of my prime motivators.

take a few moments to journey through some snapshots
from my own personal explorations,

in search of that elusive space,

otherwise known as Solitude ...

continued at Daily Kos...

EcoJustice: "What I do" and What it Means to be Ruined.

by rb137

My interest is in conflict resolution, and when I can, I volunteer my skills as an analyst and writer to help bloody circumstances in Democratic Republic of Congo. I've been writing about it a lot lately, because conflict minerals are getting some action in congress.

This is an EcoJustice issue because mineral rights are at the root of this horrible violence. And it's more than a regional war. It is a looming climate threat. Many ecology groups work to stop the conflict; the Dian Fossey Foundation was one of the first. The heart of Africa's ecology lives in the Congo basin, and it is threatened by the instability. Our industry empowers the warlords that destablize the country. As we put wealth and technology into their hands, their power to plunder increases.

But the violence and suffering does not make the whole story. There is hope and grassroots action taking the country to a new place. One of the groups behind this excellent work is my favorite NGO, HEAL Africa.

continued at Daily Kos....

I am so sad...

by Richard Cranium

I don't even know where to start.  It's like I've been kicked in the gut over the past week.  Repeatedly.

The Gulf of Mexico is being destroyed.  But it's apparently not that big of a deal.  Mothers let their kids swim in the muck, and then say they'll get some Goo Gone to clean them off.  There's no national outrage about this?

250,000 lives a week will be destroyed because the Senate decided to recess, that a vacay was important, more important than resolving unemployment compensation funding for millions of their fellow citizens.

Day by day, I see more silent suffering by those of us who just hang on, day to day.  And I fear there is no future for us.  I am so sad...

continued at Daily Kos....

What is Behind the War - Our Real Issue and What I Can Do

by Ellinorianne

We can argue all we want about why we fight but ultimately the issue comes down to resources and what is at stake it is the survival of us as a species and our place in the world.

Our hubris as a species has not only put us in peril but has systematically wiped out species after species due to habitat loss from our encroachment on their space because we just need more.  

Deforestation, desertification and urban sprawl is snatching up vital space and pushing out species at an alarming rate.

continued at Daily Kos....

Putting a Price on Carbon -- Polluting must No Longer be Free

by jamess

Imagine your local Widget Factory, employs dozens of workers,
to put together hundreds of the latest Must-have Widgets, each and every day.

Now imagine this Widget Factory, in the hopes of increasing profits,
took all its industrial by-product Gunk, gathered them up each day,
and quietly dumped them, each night around midnight, when no one was looking,
in the local River waterway.   Pollution be gone!

Instant Profit Gain, right?  No costly "Gunk Processing" equipment to buy or operate. No extra hidden costs, need be added to that Price of a Widget -- which could keep consumers from flocking to Widget Retail Outlets, right?

Wrong ... ONE Big Problem in this Free Market scheme ...

The Folks living downstream on that local River waterway!
The Folks making a living on the beauty and productivity of that River --

They all might notice that somethings up, in their once pristine Waterway?

They might eventually figure it out too, that "Widget One" has been "cutting corners", in its responsibility to be "good neighbors".

continued at Daily Kos....

I can haz environ-meta?

by patrickz

If you don't read the rest of this diary, please take away these two requests:

1. Remember to add the 'eKos' tag to your eco-diaries. Rules for tagging are beneath the fold.

2. Please, please, please consider adding the eKos Widget at the end of your environmental diaries. It's fast and simple. Code is found here, bookmark it!

Also, check out the 'Singing for the Planet' concert report by WarrenS, and rec the mothership!

I don't normally ask for much, but today I want a small piece of the meta pie. You know, the good kind, without the falme wars.

eKos has received a lot of support from the eco-community, and for that we are thankful, but we'd like to spread the word far and wide. I'm hoping that this shameless bid for the rec-list will do the trick.

Follow beneath the fold for more info, and of course, more pooties!

continued at Daily Kos....

eKos Earthship Wednesday: In case you missed it, check out the Library!

by eKos

Welcome to the eKos Earthship, your one-stop-shop for green diaries and series.

With an EcoAdvocates and the final addition of TWiCC already posted, tonight's eKos will not contain eco-news. Instead, we'll have an announcement, a repost of my diary about the new eKos library (in case anyone missed it), and of course, the eco-diary lineup.

Oh, and don't forget to rec the BP Disaster Liveblog Mothership!

Tonight's editor: patrickz

continued at Daily Kos....

Introducing the eKos Library!

by patrickz

What am I talking about? Really it's a blog on Blogger that has all diary intros, titles, tags and links from the eKos database posted in a nice, shiny, easy to navigate format.

This is my way of making the eKos database available for public viewing. It is not meant to replace or compete with anything. Every post at the blog has a link back to the Daily Kos diary at the end of the intro. Nothing is posted from the body of your diary. Think of it as a repository for Daily Kos eco-diary information, with easy access back to those diaries.

Sure, you can always use the Daily Kos search engine to find those older diaries on DK, but I think you'll find that this has some advantages, some of which I'll describe beneath the fold.

continued at Daily Kos....

Smudged Green ...

by A Siegel

We would, truly, like to think that Kermit was wrong -- that it really is easy to be green. We want Kermit to be wrong ... and, well, while he was wrong, he's right.

continued at Daily Kos....

When will they get it ...

by jamess

When will people get it -- we live on a fragile planet with limited, fragile resources. [fair warning: Pictorial Diary, over the fold.]

continued at Daily Kos....

Something has Changed in the Climate Change Game -- the CIA

by jamess

Who says Climate Change is not anything to worry about? Climate Change Climbs the Ranks in the Pentagon and CIA Bryn Baker - 12/14/2009 The US Military and the CIA are increasingly concerned that climate change raises the prospects for military intervention to deal with the effects of severe weather, rising seas, drought, mass migration, spread of disease, and increased competition for resources. In Pentagon, CIA Eye New Threat: Climate Change, National Public Radio reports today that "for the first time, climate change will feature as one of the key threats under assessment in the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review. [...]" Recent war games and intelligence studies have found that sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and South and Southeast Asia will likely be the most vulnerable regions, facing food shortages, water crises and severe flooding that could require an American humanitarian relief or military response. If they can plan War Games to manage the Human Chaos, expected from Climate Change -- Why can't we plan to minimize that Climate Change, in the first place?

continued at Daily Kos....