Martin68
Martin68's JournalThis is absolutely true, and I've been disappointed that some on DU are still not taking the threat
seriously. I'm being told, "but the US is cutting back on GHGs." I'm afraid a lot of people still don't realize the meaning of "existential threat." Perhaps the term has been overused and doesn't resonate the way it should. I'm 71, so I won't experience the worst of the coming crisis.I don't have children, but I still care about the rest of the world. I was lucky enough to dive on unspoiled coral reefs and walk pristine tropical rain forests on multiple continents. So you might say "I got mine." But I want future generations to experience some of the richness of the ecosystems that now exist but that are in danger of disappearing forever. We should be turning out in the streets in tens of thousands to demonstrate for the painful but necessary change in our lives that cutting out the use of hydrocarbons will require. Our biggest problem is that to reduce hydrocarbons usage significantly will mean a lowering of our standard of living, and any politician or party that tries to do that will be voted out of office. Like the Dutch, we need to demand a change that most people just can't accept. But we achieved Civil Rights legislation, so I think we can do this if we push hard enough. But its would take 100s of thousands of us marching in the streets to force a change. Not violent revolution. Just force of numbers in peaceful demonstrations. If we don't, sooner or later violent revolutions will inevitably come.
i love to see Trump challenged on so many fronts. His head must be spinning. Exactly what he's been
doing to his contractors for so many years to stiff them. What goes around, comes around. It will be interesting to see him crumble as he finally realizes he has utterly failed in every effort he's made to control and dominate other people.
The truth is, Republicans are increasing their appeals to white supremacists, new-nazis, and just
plain racists. They will take votes wherever they can get them.
I wonder if the Dumpster is beginning to realize that his old playbook of "stiff your creditors,
screw your contractors, and sue your accusers" is not up to the task of getting him out of the mess he's in. He's dug himself a very deep hole, and he just keeps digging. He deserves every bit of misery that is coming his way.
Caliman, you are 100% correct. Once the Anthropocene is over, and civilization collapses under the
collective weight of rising sea levels, extreme weather events, drought and flooding, wildfires, mass migratory movements, crop failures, and, potentially, the failure of deep worldwide ocean currents, nature will adjust to the new normal, evolution will get to work, and much of the natural world as we know it will go the way of the trilobite and the ammonite, to be replaced by an entirely new ecosystem composed of brand new species. Homo sapiens could survive, but it will take tens of thousands of years to rebuild new civilizations on the basis if new technologies.
IF WE DO NOTHING
Nance, I get you. But I live in a place in the US where I am surrounded by nature within
driving distance of a major university and a small town that excels in restaurants and excellent live music. I am in a purple state where in some areas people are rabidly Trumpist. But our town is amazingly diverse because of a university and a refugee resettlement program that has been here since the 70s. I have lived in Canada (Ontario), as well as Venezuela, El Salvador, Colombia, Liberia, and Japan. What reliable journalism reports is that every country in the world is being affected by a right wing movement to move their country towards fascism. In countries that I always held up as models for the world we now see the ugly heads of fascism rising up. I've seen it in Canada, too. The U.S. has no monopoly on right wing rednecks.
We can still beat it, and I believe the odds are on our side in the long run. But wherever you go, it will affect you. I understand the shame you feel, and I feel it too because I think it is shameful what the right wing is saying and doing to this country. But I want to do what I can to fight it. Here.
Difficult to gauge. Maybe Putin was expecting something to happen, and now that it did
he is relieved he could negotiate an apparent win. But unless he's a total idiot, and I don't think he is, he knows his position is precarious. The wolf pack perceives weakness in the leader because the beta male stood up to him and survived to tell the tale. They are all circling, observing, testing their alliances, formulating an escape plan, waiting for someone or something to indicate which way the balance will swing. Putin is putting on a brave face, and overplaying the role. I thinks he's toast.
I have been surprised that no one mentions the obvious fact that the rescue/recovery operation
was a vital opportunity to test the capabilities of search and rescue, as well as detection capabilities of the Navy, Coast Guard, and other services. A real world operation like this, involving multiple countries and numerous vessels, is a rare real-world opportunity to test and hone such capabilities. Maybe some feel it would be in poor taste to mention that in view of the deaths that occurred.
Clarence Thomas knows the law, and he technically did not "take bribes." To be called a bribe
a transaction must involve a direct quid pro quo, meaning that there must have been a direct offer of money for a particular action.
Thomas and Alito skirt the bribery allegation by never entering into such a contract. They accept luxurious favors from "friends" who might at a later date have a case before the court. They probably believe that because they made decision they would have made anyway based on their interpretation of the Constitution, regardless of the favors bestowed, they are innocent of bribery.
However, ethics codes always include the appearance of influence in cases where judges accept favors from anyone whose affairs might be later decided by the court. For any federal employee except Supreme Court Justices, such cases are considered conflict of interest, and any judge (or any other federal official) who has a received gifts of any sort are required to recuse themselves from case involved with people who have bestowed such gifts.
I worked for a state agency that also worked closely with federal grants, and the conflict of interest rules were exceedingly strict. I saw people fired for violating them in any manner.
MAGAts wield the legal system as a club to prevent the truth from getting out. When they charge
that Democrats have weaponized" the justice system it's just a smoke screen to cover their weaponization of the FBI and the DOJ during the Trump administration. Their go-to MO.
Profile Information
Name: Martin JohnsonGender: Male
Hometown: Virginia
Home country: U.S.A.
Current location: Charlottesville, VA
Member since: Tue Jun 8, 2010, 02:30 PM
Number of posts: 22,791
