The Friends of California Libre...

04 July 2007

What Blows Up Will Blow Back Before It Blows Over

Greetings, friends,
First of all, a happy Canada Day to you, and if I don't get around to it, Bastille Day as well. Oh yeah, and let's wistfully celebrate Independence Day, the end of 231 years of monarchist tyranny, hopefully with explosions, alcohol, hot babes and a plan to get rid of our monarch for life:
Olbermann: Bush, Cheney Should Resign
By Keith Olbermann
MSNBC Countdown
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/070407Y.shtml

In case anyone was thinking of adding to the pollution with a celebratory flag-burning, think again:
Proper Flag Disposal
I thought you might find the following article from snopes.com interesting: http://www.snopes.com/holidays/flagday/burnflag.asp

Anyway, here's a request: does anyone in LA have a fax machine I can borrow? I need to send a fax up to San Francisco, but I don't have long-distance service on my home phone and, unlike 99% of the civilized world, these NoCal people won't take e-mail or even a goddamn letter. Well, let me know.

The last few weeks have been pleasant and quiet, with a simple routine: I get up, go to work for a few hours, come home and happily write, go for a walk after dinner, watch "Poker After Dark" at 2 AM and do it all again the next day. I have to admit my job isn't getting any easier; I recently had to throw a kid out of the Echo Park library for making a racket, and then pretending to be deaf so I had to physically pick him up, a no-no that I employ regardless on brats. On the way out he called me a pussy and flipped me the bird, which wouldn't have bothered me so much if he wasn't about 10 or 11. Anyway, I took an especially long stroll that evening and, dissuaded by the long line outside of Pinkberry, made one of my rare trips to the overpriced Gelson's on Hyperion, where I bought myself a can of Reddi-Whip, took it home and sucked all the nitrous oxide out during "South Park". Pathetic.

Then last weekend, there was some kind of riot at Pinkberry, with multiple police cars, a fire engine and a circling helicopter. What the hell is going on over there?

My friends in New York can now find out at the Pinkberry by Spring Street station:
Step Inside as Spring Street welcomes its very own Pinkberry.
41 Spring St, New York NY 10012 Map
212 274 8883
Swirling Hours
Sun - Thur 11.30 am - 11 pm
Fri + Sat 11.30 am - 12 am

In more news from the home front, I see that none of you investigated renting the 2 bedroom behind my apartment...too bad. I was pretty happy that the stylist prick moved on, and totally shocked to see my old neighbor Laura move in. Some of you remember Laura, the nurse who lived in the same apartment about 8 years ago. At first she lived by herself, but then she got a boyfriend...something I knew immediately because her window faces mine from about 20 feet away, and I found myself in the unnerving position of trying to sleep while she had some very loud orgasms. AND it was in the summer, so neither of us were inclined to close our windows (my downstairs neighbor, the bass player, either). Poor Laura, the guy disappeared and our apartment complex went without her shrieks of love. Then she found a guy who really made her scream, they got married and moved out. Well, now they're back in the same apartment, although thankfully living in the other bedroom facing my landlord.

Enough sexy talk, what's on tap for the SCREED? Well, 7 July Al Gore is throwing his big save the planet rock concert, and I'm glad because we're running out of time. With Lindsay Lohan street legal and Malin only a year away, and still more tots popping out all the time (congrats to Lorinda and eventually Dorothy), we've got to get cracking. We discover, unsurprisingly, that if we use up half the globe, the other half will be glad to croak on us:
Deforestation: The Hidden Cause of Global Warming
By Daniel Howden
The Independent UK
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/051407EC.shtml
Chinese Demand Drives Global Deforestation Crisis
By Tansa Musa
Reuters
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/061407EC.shtml

I think a long vacation from pillaging the Earth might me in order; here's a solution we can all get behind:
Why Working Less Is Better for the Globe
By Dara Colwell
AlterNet.org
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/052107LA.shtml

I can look out my window and see the sad truth of our future otherwise:
Drought a World Wake-Up Call
By Stefanie Balogh
The Daily Telegraph AU
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/051607EA.shtml
Drought: A New Norm Across the Nation?
By Patrick O'Driscoll
USA Today
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/060807EB.shtml
Scarce Water and Population Boom Leads California to "Perfect Drought"
By Dan Glaister
The Guardian UK
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/062507EB.shtml

My whole state is getting it:
Raging Tahoe Fire's Roots: 150 Years of Forest Abuse
By Carl T. Hall
The San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/062607EA.shtml

And unfortunately, the water is going to the wrong places:
Thunder? It's the Sound of Greenland Melting
By Gelu Sulugiuc
Reuters
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/060607EB.shtml
UN Warning Over Global Ice Loss
BBC News
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/060507EB.shtml
A Sacred River Endangered by Global Warming
By Emily Wax
The Washington Post
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/061807EA.shtml
Vanishing Ponds Leaving the Arctic High and Dry
By Katherine Harding
The Globe and Mail
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/070307EC.shtml
Global Warming Is Speeding Up Ocean Waves
NewScientist.com
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/061207EC.shtml

I was pleased to see this interesting energy source, which was mentioned in a previous SCREED, spreading around the globe:
Special Report: Inspired by Ancient Amazonians, a Plan to Convert Trash into Environmental Treasure
By Anne Casselman
The Scientific American
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/051707EB.shtml

I'm less pleased to see everyone jumping on the biofuel bandwagon, which has the potential to be even worse than the oil we're trying to avoid:
Massacres and Paramilitary Land Seizures Behind the Biofuel Revolution
By Oliver Balch and Rory Carroll
The Guardian UK
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/060607ED.shtml
The Coming Biofuels Disaster
By Joe Brewer
t r u t h o u t Guest Columnist
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062807H.shtml

Still, the need is pressing and the dearth of untapped dead dinosaurs will make our decisions for us:
Global Carbon Emissions in Overdrive
By Peter N. Spotts
The Christian Science Monitor
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/052207EA.shtml
World Oil Supplies Are Set to Run Out Faster Than Expected
By Daniel Howden
The Independent UK
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/061407EA.shtml
Western Consumption May Cause Famines
By Anita Purcell-Sjoelund
Agence France-Presse
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/070207EC.shtml
Earth's Natural Defenses Against Climate Change "Beginning to Fail"
By Michael McCarthy
The Independent UK
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/052107EC.shtml
The Earth Today Stands in Imminent Peril
By Steve Connor
The Independent UK
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/062007EA.shtml

Our companions on the planet are typically taking the worst hit, and frighteningly, they are becoming less and less exotic:
Suddenly, the Bees Are Simply Vanishing
By Jia-Rui Chong and Thomas H. Maugh II
The Los Angeles Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/061107EB.shtml
Common Bird Species in Dramatic Decline
By Mark Clayton
The Christian Science Monitor
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/061507EA.shtml
(thanks, Robert)
BBC NEWS Asia-Pacific Birds 'starve' at S Korea wetland
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6649233.stm
For the Love of Whales
By Kelpie Wilson
t r u t h o u t Environmental Editor
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/053007K.shtml
UN Urges World to Slow Extinctions: Three Each Hour
By Alister Doyle
Reuters
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/052307EA.shtml
Scientists Foresee Extinction Domino Effect
By Stephen Leahy
Inter Press Service
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/051707EC.shtml

Some people are reviving, correctly I think, a solution that was posited back in the 1970s:
This Planet Ain't Big Enough for the 6,500,000,000 of Us
By Chris Rapley
The Belfast Telegraph
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/062807EC.shtml

Of course, some critter will survive whatever the human race throws at them:

The Buggy Buggy

By snopes@snopes.com
About the yucky stuff potentially lurking on the handles of shopping carts.

Yeech! But the real threat will always come from certain humans, who have an intellect similar to a bacterium:
The Secret Campaign of President Bush's Administration to Deny Global Warming
By Tim Dickinson
Rolling Stone
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062407C.shtml

Although some of them are starting to "evolve":
US House Passes Bill Affirming Global Warming Exists
By Richard Cowen
Reuters
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/062807EA.shtml
Democrats Face Off Over Emissions Bill
By Richard Simon
The Los Angeles Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/060807EA.shtml
Senate Passes Energy Bill
By Sholnn Freeman
The Washington Post
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/062207L.shtml

I'm always proud to see my own state take the lead:
California Urges EPA to Change Greenhouse Gas Rules
By Joel Havemann and Johanna Neuman
The Los Angeles Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/052307EB.shtml
Battle Heats Up Over Emissions
By Sholnn Freeman
The Washington Post
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052407O.shtml
Bill Heats Up Talk of Solar Water Systems
By Margot Roosevelt
The Los Angeles Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/052907EC.shtml

Even if our neighbors have to pay some of the price:
California Standards Could Crimp Canadian Oil Boom
By Robert Collier
The San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/060707EB.shtml

Here in California, we have a beautiful place, but we also have a place vulnerable to changes in the weather. Even the corporations that have whored California around since 1850 are finally getting the message:
Google and Utility to Test Hybrids That Sell Back Power
By Felicity Barringer and Matthew L. Wald
The New York Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/061907EB.shtml

Shee-it, even some Texans are getting the message:
Texas Oil Tycoon Plans Largest Wind Farm
The Associated Press
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/062107EA.shtml

All business with a need to survive to sustain their greed have to plan ahead:
Companies Gear Up for Greenhouse Gas Limits
By Steven Mufson
The Washington Post
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052907P.shtml

Not that they don't bear watching:
Is Big Business Buying Out the Environmental Movement?
By Phil Mattera
Corporate Research Project
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/060507LA.shtml

But hell, there's money in a healthy environment:
Castoff E-scrap Holds Hidden Treasure
By Ernst-Jan Pfauth
The Inter Press Service
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/052507EC.shtml
How Can Carbon Trading Save Peatlands and Rainforests?
By Gill Murdoch
Reuters
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/070207EA.shtml

And there are penalties for not living up to your own standards (PS bet you thought this was long done, eh?):
US Appeals Court Tells Exxon to Pay Fishermen
By Wesley Loy
The Anchorage Daily News
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/052507EA.shtml

And yet the fools in the White House continue to resist...where do they think we'll be living in a century? On the Moon, Mars? Oh yeah, I forgot about the Rapture™:
US Aims to Weaken G-8 Climate Change Statement
By Juliet Eilperin
The Washington Post
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/051407EB.shtml
US Contests G8 Climate Communiqué
By Fiona Harvey and Hugh Williamson
The Financial Times
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/051707EA.shtml
US Rejects - In Red - G8 Climate Draft
Reuters
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/052507EB.shtml
Activists: US to Reject Climate Deal
By David Stringer
The Associated Press
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052607F.shtml
G-8 Vows Greenhouse Gas Curbs; US Escapes Targets
By James G. Neuger
Bloomberg
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/060707C.shtml
G8 Agreement on Climate Change a "Disgrace": Al Gore
Reuters
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/061507M.shtml

Some countries are, of course, glad to have the American bully to hide behind:
India to Shun G8 Demands on Gas Emissions
By Peter Foster
The Telegraph UK
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/053007EA.shtml

But most have no place to hide:
Africa Feels the Warming It Didn't Cause
The Associated Press
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/052407EB.shtml

The real hope for the world will be local, it will be house by house and town by town:
US Mayors Take the Lead in Fighting Climate Change
Environment News Service
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/062607EC.shtml
16 Cities to Go Green Under Clinton Plan
By Sara Kugler
The Associated Press
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051707P.shtml

And eventually, I hope, the great power of this great country, which set the world on a new course on this date in 1776, will shine again:
An Apollo Program for Climate Change
By David Sokol
The Washington Post
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/062207EB.shtml

Vive le screed!

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