Earth Diary
The Award Categories and the Winners, 2007
I. Most Shameful Organization. Title jointly awarded to: NASA, Union of Concerned Scientists, Cambridge University (UK)
II. Collapsing Ecosystems. Top three winners: New Zealand, Morton Bay (Australia), Puget Sound
III. The Blooming Mushroom Cloud, Golden DU Shell. Joint winners are Freeman “Black Rain” Dyson, Baron Munchausen, AKA Martin [final hour] Rees, Baron of Ludlow, Shropshire SY8, and Stephen [dark matter] Hawking
IV. The Corrupt ‘Royal’ Families. The honor goes to The Saudi Arabian Royal Family
V. Genocide and War Crimes: See Exhibits H, I, K, L; John Howard (former PM of Australia) and his lawmakers and Puppeteers
VI. The Merchants of Mass Murder: See Exhibits A, B, C, D, E, F, G
More categories and award winners will follow!
August 2007
Cambridge University is hereby nominated for the title of Most Shameful Organization 2007 (August candidate).At its Council meeting on 23 July 2007 the Council of the University of Cambridge unanimously endorsed the statement issued by Universities UK. This statement read:
July 2007
Union of Concerned Scientists Issue Global Warming Snakeoil
The Union of Concerned [sic] Scientists have recently posted an article on their website under the banner of Global Warming, titled: Ten Personal Solutions. Unfortunately the article lacks adequate substance and stands short of persuading the informed readers that their choices can have a significant impact on global warming.
Ed Crane said: “The history of mankind is a history of the subjugation and exploitation of a great majority of people by an elite few by what has been appropriately termed the ‘ruling class’. The ruling class has many manifestations. It can take the form of a religious orthodoxy, a monarchy, a dictatorship of the proletariat, outright fascism, or, in the case of the United States, corporate statism. In each instance the ruling class relies on academics, scholars and ‘experts’ to legitimize and provide moral authority for its hegemony over the masses.”
Not surprisingly, UCS’s Ten Personal Solutions fails to make an impact by way of an urgent appeal to readers for radical changes in their politics, businesses and lifestyles that are needed to save the planet from the looming ecocide.
Full text is available here.
The Union of Concerned Scientists is hereby nominated for the title of Most Shameful Organization 2007 (July candidate).
Puget Sound struggles against tide of toxins
Every day, industry and municipal sewage treatment plants dump 1 billion gallons of wastewater tainted with toxic chemicals and oxygen-robbing nutrients into Puget Sound and its tributaries. And it’s all perfectly legal.
Read more…
See also Puget Sound: A cesspool of pollution
June 2007
A Primeval Tide of Toxins Runoff from modern life is feeding an explosion of primitive organisms. This ‘rise of slime,’ as one scientist calls it, is killing larger species and sickening people. [Altered Oceans – LA Times]
“MORETON BAY, AUSTRALIA — The fireweed began each spring as tufts of hairy growth and spread across the seafloor fast enough to cover a football field in an hour.
When fishermen touched it, their skin broke out in searing welts. Their lips blistered and peeled. Their eyes burned and swelled shut. Water that splashed from their nets spread the inflammation to their legs and torsos.”
Read more…
May 2007
Freeman “Black Rain” Dyson: The “Blooming Mushroom Cloud of the Month” Nomination for the Golden DU Shell Award
“Dyson has also proposed the creation of a Dyson tree, a genetically-engineered plant capable of growing on a comet. He suggested that comets could be engineered to contain hollow spaces filled with a breathable atmosphere, thus providing self-sustaining habitats for humanity in the outer solar system.”
Dyson regards the term “global warming” as a misnomer.
On Hiroshima bombing:
I agreed emphatically with Henry Stimson. Once we had got ourselves into the business of bombing cities, we might as well do the job competently and get it over with.
[Next, another “Blooming Mushroom Cloud of the Month” nomination for the Golden DU Shell Award: Baron Munchausen, AKA Martin [final hour] Rees, Baron of Ludlow, Shropshire SY8.]
April 2007
Stephen [dark matter] Hawking: The “Blooming Mushroom Cloud of the Month” Nomination for the Golden DU Shell Award
“He became the first disabled person to float free in zero-gravity. This was the first time in 40 years that he moved freely beyond his wheelchair. […] Before the flight he was quoted as saying “Many people have asked me why I am taking this flight. I am doing it for many reasons. First of all, I believe that life on Earth is at an ever increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster such as [a] nuclear war… or other dangers. I think the human race has no future if it doesn’t go into space. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space.”
Note: According to the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics and Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, upon migration into deep space [sic] in search of friendly planets [sic] humans will part with their nasty habits (!)
[Next month: “comets could be engineered to contain hollow spaces filled with a breathable atmosphere”.]
Dismantling Empire, Creating a Culture of Peace.
Rev. Michael Yoshii, the principal speaker, has been very active in the Ehren Watada Support Committee
6:45 a.m. gather for worship
8- 9:30 a.m. non-violent witness
Vasco Road and Patterson Pass Road, Livermore
Since 1945, U.S. nuclear weapons have been the trump card in the force maintaining the world-wide American empire. Livermore has just been selected to design the new “safer” nuclear weapons in the “Reliable Replacement Program”.
Assemble at Vasco Road and Patterson Pass Road, on the southeast corner.
After a 45 minute prayer service and a walk of about 1/2 mile to a major gate of the lab there will be nonviolent acts of witness.
Following the action there will be a community gathering in Livermore to share our concerns and activities.
For more details, including a map and a PDF flyer, visit http://www.epicalc.org/
February 2007
1. Global What?
National Academy of Sciences: There will always be uncertainty in understanding a system as complex as the world’s climate. However there is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring. The evidence comes from direct measurements of rising surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures and from phenomena such as increases in average global sea levels, retreating glaciers, and changes to many physical and biological systems. It is likely that most of the warming in recent decades can be attributed to human activities (IPCC 2001). This warming has already led to changes in the Earth’s climate.
AAAS: The scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to society. Accumulating data from across the globe reveal a wide array of effects: rapidly melting glaciers, destabilization of major ice sheets, increases in extreme weather, rising sea level, shifts in species ranges, and more. The pace of change and the evidence of harm have increased markedly over the last five years. The time to control greenhouse gas emissions is now.
AAAS: Changes in West Coast Marine Ecosystems Significant
Scientists have found 200 “dead zones” in the world’s oceans … a 34 percent jump in the number of such zones from just two years ago.
Recurring “Dead Zone” Off Oregon is Spreading
Creeping Dead Zones
The delicate interplay between the oceans and atmosphere is changing with catastrophic consequences
Great Barrier Reef polluted by pesticides
Disappearing world: Global warming claims tropical island
January 2007
The Corrupt ‘Royal’ Families
The ‘Government” corruption in Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich Gulf pumping station now rent-a-citizen ‘Sheikdoms’ pose a serious threat to the regional stability and world peace. The corrupt and counter-evolutionary Royal Families must go, replaced by elected governments that conform to the standards of democracy and social norms.
December 2006
The Saudi Mammon
Over 30 prominent Islamic clerics from Saudi Arabia on Monday called on Sunni Muslims around the Middle East to support their brethren in Iraq against Shiites and praised the insurgency. Why are the Saudi clerics so profoundly void of humanity, unable to empathize with the Iraqi pain? Their attempts to fuel the Iraqi feud can only be the work of depraved minds. It is high time the Saudi Mammon were stripped of undeserving privileges. The good people of Saudi Arabia cannot serve God and Mammon. Rife with the Saudi provocation, it is no wonder the Arabs millennia-old feuds remain unsolved despite the parricide and recurring bloodshed. [Is that smart?]
Regional nuclear war could devastate global climate
A small country [e.g., Israel] is likely to direct its weapons against population centers to maximize damage and achieve the greatest advantage … the potential devastation would be catastrophic… large climatic effects would occur in regions far removed from the target areas or the countries involved in the conflict.
The Iraqi Holocaust
The Iraqi Holocaust is the most egregious acts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity ever committed by militarily forces of occupying countries. To remove this ugly blight from its history, humanity has the moral duty and legal obligation to stop the Holocaust by any means possible.
December 12, 2006 : Day of solidarity with the Tupinikim/Guarani of Brazil
The Tupinikim and Guarani indigenous peoples of Brazil’s Atlantic Coast have been dispossessed of their traditional lands. In the 1960’s, a large paper company, Aracruz Celulose, moved in, clearing their land for large-scale eucalyptus plantations. Since then, the Tupinikim and Guarani have been fighting to regain their ancestral lands, in the face of strong opposition and intimidation from the company. They are currently pursuing a lengthy legal battle based on their rights guaranteed by the Constitution. December 12 marks the 3-month deadline set by the Brazilian Minister of Justice for a decision on their land rights case. http://www.fase.org.br/_reg_espsanto/ (Portuguese)
The Stern Report: Playing Politics with Ecology – Spin the Tailspin
The so-called Stern report, Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, asserts:
The risks of the worst impacts of climate change can be substantially reduced if greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere can be stabilised between 450 and 550ppm CO2 equivalent (CO2e).
The opening salvo of environmental calamities, sparked about 30 years ago at levels of 330ppm CO2e, has now begun to engulf humanity. Just how the report authors can presume an additional 28 percent increase in the CO2e pollution in the atmosphere [up on the current levels of 430ppm CO2e] would create any semblance of stability is a great toxic dump of doublespeak in truly Orwellian fashion.
{Try the statement with 600ppm (instead of 550ppm), it would read like Curry’s
paradox (e.g., the statement must be true, since Santa exists.)
Now try 650ppm, and you have the liar’s paradox (e.g., the unstoppable
positive feedback was triggered at much lower pollution levels. The unstoppable
positive feedback can be stabilized [sic] at much higher pollution levels).
[REM: You would need an average knowledge of ecology and feedback systems to read between the line—and the report authors bank on the lack thereof—and realize the ramification of what happens to the system itself.]
Now try 700ppm. Their seemingly logical statement becomes the fallacy of the beard (paradox of the heap, or continuum fallacy) – if 300ppm is a safe level, then 400ppm is just 33percent
higher, and 500ppm is a natural extension to 400ppm… ad infinitum.
Let’s take another shot at it, this time as dark humor. Does it not look like Bobby
Henderson’s Flying Spaghetti Monster reasoning (reductio ad absurdum) vying for
scientific legitimacy?
Interestingly, the syntax remains [deceptively] reasonable throughout!
Imagine being told about the advantages of drowning in shallower waters, while
your benefactors [sic] are recommending measures to control drowning in deeper
waters, [and shining a green light at the oil industry to keep on pumping out,
and the airline and automobile industry to keep on clocking up those uncovered
miles…}
Green, Progressive, Democratic, Providing Global Amnesty…
The overwhelming majority of the ‘progressive’ groups or political parties, ‘green’ organizations, ‘alternative media,’ ‘peace,’ ‘amnesty’ and ‘human rights’ organizations, masquerading as legitimate operations, are in fact front organizations serving the interest of their parent corporations.
A brief examination of how these fronts are financed usually reveals their true identity. Organizations of this kind often spread globally and dominate their area of activity de facto.
You are invited to submit your views on the Vatican, Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, Green Party, Amnesty International, Greenpeace… Code Pink, MoveOn, Counterpunch, Peak Oil gatekeepers… any other organization, group or individual in the news.
PRO 