Daily bigjac Poetry Slam

by bigjacbigjacbigjac

Philosophy.

Contraception.

Economics.

Politics.

We need the right one of each.

We need the right philosophy.

We need contraception,
enough to bring our numbers down,
down to a sustainable
number
of humans
on Planet
Earth.

continued at Daily Kos....

Politics: The Fashion Section (humor)

by mwmwm

This season's in thing? Aggressive stance!

It's not just a win, with extra-wide shoulders, very specific codpieces, and bald-man big-package whiteness, it's also causing conflagration on the catwalks.

That new style is hot, hot, HOT.

continued at Daily Kos....

Voters Overwhelmingly Support Clean Energy Candidates

by Heather TaylorMiesle NRDC Action Fund

Americans know a good idea when they see one. No matter how many millions of dollars the deep-pocketed polluters spend on spreading mistruths this election season, new polling released by the NRDC Action Fund today shows that voters in 23 close Congressional races overwhelmingly support clean energy legislation and would be more likely to support candidates who do the same.

continued at Daily Kos....

Perhaps I Should Put Up Flags

by Miep

I live in Little Texas. I am surrounded by people whose worldviews are very different from mine.

Some are libertarians. Some are likely neo-cons, and even neo-libs. Not very many true libs. I'm not sure how many true conservatives populate my region, either - old-time conservatives. The ones that really want to conserve things, as opposed to just steal them.

It's hard to work it out. People get so confused by the ongoing changes in nomenclature. And rightly so.

(Crossposted from FireDogLake and RightofAssembly)

continued at Daily Kos....

The Last Frontier's Struggle For Our Future: Climate Hero vs Climate Peacock and Climate Zombie

by A Siegel

"Alaska: The Last Frontier" is so eerily echoing of The Final Frontier.  And, as with ever so many episodes of Star Trek: The Final Frontier, The Last Frontier is seeing a struggle that could have life-or-death implications for a planet.

Alaska's election could, plausibly, be a determining factor on the nation's (and the globe's) path forward toward (or away from) a clean-energy future.

continued at Daily Kos....

You Were Born Wealthy, But No One Told You!

by RobertConnors

NOTE: The following is purely opinion, and is offered only for a bit of wry perspective on our world.

Imagine that you were born fabulously wealthy. As an infant you had no idea that there was a great treasure at your disposal, and relied upon others to provide for your every need. As you grew, you began to hear mentions of the wonderful inheritance that was yours, a thing of fabulous value, and wondered about what it could be. You only knew that one day it would be yours.

continued at Daily Kos....

You Are What You Use

by Miep

Or maybe not. Many people who care about environmentalism, get caught up a great deal in thinking about how they consume, and changing their consumer habits.

That's good, but it's not enough.

continued at Daily Kos....

Floods in Asia a Result of Climate Change?

by akmk

Whether or not there is a link to the Gulf oil disaster, scientists and news media are now discussing seriously the possibility of severe flooding in Asia being caused by climate change.  Collapsing ocean ecosystems are also being noted.

Severe flooding and unusually dramatic heat waves, all appear to point to global warming and climate change.  And May of 2010 appears to be time of the start of the most dramatic changes.

The Gulf oil spill was in April.  The earth's atmosphere gained a considerable amount of methane.  The ocean's life forms have been subjected to a considerable amount of toxins.

What happens in one part of the planet affects all of the planet.  It's called ecology.

Other human caused factors may be contributing to the flooding in Asia as well.

And there are political implications to all of this.

continued at Daily Kos....

A very large and complicated problem

by olmanwillow

For a long time I've had suspicions that something big was happening, that the global system as it has been for the past century is failing. There are glimmers of the giant crisis that shine through smaller problems. However when these smaller problems are viewed in concert there is reason for serious concern.  

continued at Daily Kos....

The Third World now includes The Gulf of Mexico.

by sfzendog

                       A Shift in Perspective
     Listening to the Coastal Commission investigating the effects of the BP oil spill in the Gulf was an extended heartbreak. Hour after hour, decent, hard-working people whose lives were intimately involved with nature testified to catastrophic, unrecoverable losses due to the oil. The scale of their suffering made it understandable that the emphasis in the news has been on the shore-line and the consequences to tourism and scenic beauty. Perhaps it is too painful to consider what happens to the whales, dolphins, porpoises, turtles, corals and krill out at sea, but this framing is a form of self-induced myopia which will become painfully clear only when the entire ocean has been rendered a dead-zone.

continued at Daily Kos....

Stop Big Oil Bailouts

by thinkingblue

A friend posted this as a facebook entry:

I know - petitions are a pain -- but before you give up on them, sign this one. Please, pretty please -- for our future which hangs in the balance. Remember: Big Oil is not our friend. Ditto for banks, doctors, insurance companies, brokers, etc. ad nauseum. Maddi

continued at Daily Kos....

Green Economy and the Problem of Class

by Vikingkingq

Note: this is a cross-post from The Realignment Project.

Introduction:

It is in the very nature of a political alliance that there are tensions between the various constitutive elements. If political interests, experience and tradition, ways of thinking were completely identical, one would expect allied groups to have already merged - an alliance grows out of a shared need to cooperate in cases in which different groups have overlapping but distinct agendas.

The same is true of the "Blue/Green" alliance between environmental and labor groups. On the surface, both groups are united around their support for a "green economy," one in which non-renewable, greenhouse-gas-emitting industries and processes are replaced by renewable, emissions-free alternate forms of energy and production - an economy which labor groups hope involves the creation of many new manufacturing jobs in new "green industries." However, there are conflicts that emerge when the idea of a green economy runs into the reality of class and political economy in the era of globalization, conflicts that illustrate the different interests and goals of the two movements.

continued at Daily Kos....

Just watched "Collapse" it was a Horror Movie (The Peak Oil Story)

by olmanwillow

Been out of writing commission for a while as that heat wave swept through the North East. My computer happens to reside in a nonairconditioned room. This led me to stay far far away, but did not stop me from watching movies.

Two days ago I was invited to my cousin's house to watch a movie with the extended fam. The movie of choice happened to be a documentary called "Collapse". It was essentially an interview w/ Michael Rupert + Pictures. We watched as a family then discussed after. There were many points in the movie that really caught my attention. I was particularly fascinated by the concept of "Peak Oil". It wasn't that the idea was new to me, nor that the surrounding issues were new, but how severe his predictions were that caught my attention.

continued at Daily Kos....

A Fracking Mess!

by thinkingblue

After viewing this documentary, I was mortified and ashamed of what our species is capable of. If you think this is a free country... THINK AGAIN! The Bush/Cheney administration did everything in their power to take away as many freedoms as possible so doors could be opened to allow THE CORPORATE "BEING" to have free reign on getting at any type of resource no matter who or what was in the way. I know it's hard to believe that they would go so far as to ruin our planet if only to make another buck. But with every dollar they get a nickel’s worth of power. The Power to Destroy. If you haven't seen Avatar I recommend you rent it. It is a chilling glimpse into the future of what can happen to Mother Earth when all her natural resources are depleted. Think it a fairytale? Another... THINK AGAIN! Watch the trailer of Gasland below and The Daily Show featuring the filmmaker of Gasland, Josh Fox. Stay enlightened, information may be the only weapon we have to help save our planet against The Corporate World who will kill every living creature upon it, if they are allowed. thinkingblue

continued at Daily Kos....

Chemical Gusher, not in the Gulf

by worldforallpeopleorg

I slept through the oil disaster. It gushes still, and has not stopped for two months. But I had to sleep through some of that. And work. I've seen a couple of good movies in that time too, and went away for a few days. I've been out to dinner, the gym, played some tennis, and done laundry and dishes. And while I was thinking of other things, that oil did not stop spewing for a single second.

Even during an event as staggering as BP's monumental screw up, we must put it out of our minds some of the time, and simply live our lives.

continued at Daily Kos....