writeaboutwarming

Sorry for not publishing last week. I was close to being done with a book review of The Politics of Bad Ideas, but then my computer went kaflooey. I still hope to have that up soon. June 27, 2011 – I’m detecting a definite undercurrent of panic these days. The reason I say that is that bloggers are supplying “information” that the news media are unwilling or unable to supply, along with a helping of innuendo, on the side. While some of the stories are legitimate, others (giant sinkholes??) need to be viewed skeptically, rather than taken at face value. Furthermore, reporting every bit of bad news (“School Board Cuts Teachers’ Salaries”) as if it belonged in the same class as the ongoing nightmare at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, is disingenuous, at best. At worst, its purpose is to induce a state of panic, G-d only knows why. Adrenaline junkies should not rule the ether. Let’s leave the business of purveying worthless half-truths and sly innuendo to the corpor...

June 20, 2011 – BOOK REVIEW. The Politics of Bad Ideas: The Great Tax Cut Delusion and the Decline of Good Government in America. (2008). Bryan D. Jones and Walter Williams. Depending upon whom you read and believe, Americans pay less in taxes today than at any time since either 1958 or 1950, take your pick. Coincidentally, American indebtedness now totals over 100% of annual GDP, for only the second time in American history (the first time was the result of militarization in order to fight World War II). Let’s see now – the government has chosen to reduce its income while, at the same time, spending more than it has ever spent in peacetime. When individuals spend more money than they earn, it comes as no surprise that they eventually wind up insolvent. Why Republicans insist that a similar course of action is not only worthy of consideration, where governments are concerned, but actually advisable, is the subject of Jones’ and Williams’ book. Isn’t it interesting tha...

June 15, 2011 – At the beginning of 2011, the UN issued a statement concerning global food production, saying that if the world’s “bread basket” nations did not all have bumper crops this year, there would be critical food shortages. Let’s take a look at how that’s playing out: Here in the United States, the Mississippi River flooded yet again, leading the Army Corps of Engineers to destroy levees which kept the floodwaters contained. While Americans questioned the decision to flood many thousands of acres of some of the country’s richest farm land, it prevented the flooding of towns up and down the river (although, in fact, Memphis wound up being largely overrun by water). Needless to say, this has led to diminished food production. In combination with the fires and drought in Texas, and the severe drought in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas, which has devastated wheat crops in all those states, it is probably fair to say that bumper crops are not expected this year. These are not the o...

June 6, 2011 – When should I have realized? Should it have been when Reagan wanted global warming studied more? If someone had said to me then, “No, it’s Reagan’s Friends (FOR?) – you know, his Fortune 500-business owning friends – who want it studied more” I was definitely naïve enough that I would have shaken my head in disbelief. I was convinced the man was simple-minded, as were the people who supported him. It never occurred to me that he was owned by American business, that he had handlers, that he was a mouthpiece. Looking back, I suppose I was halfway to having it figured out: he WAS simple-minded. That’s why he bought it when they told him, “You’re just the man for the job.” He’d never dreamt of playing a major role in history, until it was suggested to him. Say what you will of Reagan, I don’t think hubris was one of his faults. Their plan fell into place so beautifully; he was thrilled, they were thrilled. Eight years went by, and he held the line. Global warming may have b...

May 31, 2011 – Hope everybody enjoyed their Memorial Day weekend. It was and is majorly hot and sticky here in southwest Ohio, so I spent a lot of time indoors reading over the weekend. Gardening has become an evening pastime, accompanied by a lot of perspiring and panting. My reading included the latest issue of Permaculture Activist. I always look forward to receiving PA, because it’s absolutely packed with highly relevant information. They outdid themselves this time, however: Designing for Disaster was this issue’s theme. If food storage is something you’re still just considering, take my advice and purchase this issue ( www.permacultureactivist.net ). There’s a lot you need to know about what, where, and how, and Matthew Stein’s article will give your confidence a huge boost. I intend to copy it, and post the copy on the basement closet door, close by my stocks. (Perhaps Stein’s most interesting suggestion? Don’t forget the mouse traps and rat poison!) Peter Bane makes a suggestio...

May 23, 2011 – The world not having ended on Saturday, let’s turn our attention to more important matters. Funny, isn’t it: Congress requested the climate reports known as America’s Climate Choices ( http://dels.nas.edu/Report/Americas-Climate-Choices/12781 ), but something tells me they will work very hard at ignoring the report’s conclusions. Why? Because incorporating the report’s recommendations into laws, policies, and regulations would mean acknowledging we now live in a radically changed world. Doing that just doesn’t sound like the Congress we all know and love. Perhaps more to the point, expecting Congress to take this very serious document seriously presupposes that members of Congress remember how to compromise. They do not, besides which, global warming ranks as one of the most rancorous subjects Congress periodically attempts to take up. With weather on the warpath this year, climate change denier ranks may be thinning. That, sadly, does not equate to a willingness to do s...

May 16, 2011 – The weather in Loveland continues astonishingly cool and rainy. Generally I’d have to say my vegetable garden is loving it. My poor tomato seedlings are finally looking like they may yet be salvageable – between the cat eating the foliage, which led to a move to the laundry room, where they didn’t get enough light, which led to a move outdoors, where they’ve been pounded by rain, it’s been touch and go. The six survivors loved the fertilizer I gave them, so they’re leafing out. In the meantime I’ve stuck some store-bought’s in the ground. The homegrown’s will have to be put in containers, assuming they make it that far. The clematis clearly has been longing for abundant rain, lo these many years, because it’s looking stunning these days – better than it ever has before. The weigela bushes are in full bloom, as are the iris. I’ve planted lots of colorful annuals to fill in bare spots, and sprayed the various hosta with pepper spray – in some cases rather belatedly – to ke...