The IPCC, along with several other agencies, have come to a startling conclusion. They say that we will face a global water shortage. Nearly 2 Billion people world wide will face a fresh water shortage. Among those nations effected include the United States. The cause of this is increased drought due to global warming. Now, this is another case in which stupid conservative CAN say that "we don't have enough information" or "we don't know if its really happening" or "it might not be man made" but they won't. Because this global water shortage will happen in under ten years.
Thats right, not time for wasting, and not time for arguing. The data is sound and they know it. But here is the problem, scientists are also saying that we are to late to do anything about it. In other words, we can't stop the water shortage, we can only prepare for it and hope for the best. Our waffling about global warming has caused an irreversible problem and now its time to pay the piper.
Some fun facts about America's irony. Florida is one of the ones that will be most effected. Florida has spent billions to turn swamps and marshes into pavement and cities. All that fresh water has been funneled into the ocean. Now, with so much pavement covering the ground, not enough of the annual rainfall gets absorbed into the ground, and subsequently into the aquifer, which is a major contributor towards our fresh water.
But now, major rivers like the Colorado and Mississippi are getting smaller. The Colorado is slowly drying up. As well, the Great Lakes of Michigan are getting smaller every year. Global warming is causing less rain fall and more evaporation. Bigger cities are causing less absorption. This time there isn't a doubt about what caused it. There isn't a doubt its our fault. And now, there isn't any thing we can do about it. Unfortunately, this is a picture of the future. We will face this same unfortunate irony in about fifty years. Only then, we will not have been given five years warning, but nearly seventy five years warning. And the out come will be the same.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
World War 3
Tonight has been a monumental night for politics. Two thousand soldiers presented a request for redress, speaking out against the war in Iraq. Ellen Degenres gave her adopted dog to another family and caused a stir. Russia Putin allied himself with Irans President. Turkey approved a resolution to allow troops to go into Norther Iraq to take action against the Kurds. And the President of the United States warned Iran of starting world war three. Not only that, he warned that if Russia doesn't stop helping Iran, and Iran doesn't stop trying to get a nuclear weapon, they will be responsible for the starting of World War Three.
1. I wanted to write about this today, but other stuff came up that I need to discuss as well. Two thousand troops signed a petition requesting redress from the Iraq War. This is a simple statement essentially saying that they do not believe this war can be won, and that we should bring our troops home. These are troops that have served in Iraq, many of them are officers. So of course, since these are troops against the war, we should support the troops right? Wrong, psychotic right wing doofus's have already started bashing them, and even pointing out that the leader is a Navy seaman who hasn't spent more than six months over there. Of course, support the troops who are willing to die for a pointless war, and castigate the ones that don't agree with it. Bastards! Hypocrites! Sit your ass down and listen to two thousand soldiers tell you that President Bush is an idiot who doesn't know shit about war!
2. Ellen Degenres recently adopted a dog. She realized soon after that the dog would not work well with her cat. She did the good thing and gave it to another family, who has kids and loves it very much. Unfortunately, that violated the adoption rules and the adoption agency took the dog back and gave it to another family. Way to go adoption agency, you completely miss the entire point of adoption, to get animals into the arms of loving owners. An absolutely idiotic move on their part.
3. Russia's President and Iran's President have become all buddy buddy now. In a disturbing turn of events, Russia has made it brutally clear that they are siding with Iran for any future issues. They shook hands and made nice, and I'm sure, pissed off President Bush in the process. We should be very worried that Russia is pushing to be a world power again. We should worry even more that they are siding with extremists that our President is intent on attacking.
4. Turkey now has approval from their parliament to attack the Kurds in Northern Iraq. This can and will have absolutely disastrous results. Why you might ask? Because we will now have to defend Iraq from Turkey. If you plan on playing the part of occupier in a foreign country, you are obligated to defend it. But there is a wicked twist in this one. Iran has already said that it backs Turkey in this situation. It is likely that if Turkey goes to war against Iraq, and essentially the USA, Iran will help them. It will be us versus Iran and Turkey in another country, due to a situation we caused. Our government is not going to make the right decision here. They will bluster about with more statements that start wars and try to bully Turkey into backing down until another sovereign nation gets pissed at being told what to do and attacks any way. Worst case scenario, I'm sure we will see it.
5. Now on to the main event. President George Bush has once again shown why he is too idiotic to be president a nation this big. He spoke of Iran and Isreal in terms of them starting World War Three. He essentially stated that if Iran got nukes, it would be the beginning of world war three. Now while most would say he should stop name calling and threatening Iran and be diplomatic, he has done the exact opposite by continuing the constant saber rattling. The problem is that its not saber rattling, it never has been. He will rattle, then attack, and then things will fall apart as always. He doesn't understand the dynamics of the culture he is threatening. He doesn't know that threats against the country are perceived as personal threats against the man.
He doesn't know history, or he would understand that during the Iran/Iraq war, Iranians, but the dozens, blew themselves up in sacrifice to kill Iraqi's. They did this to protect their country, and even sent their children to the front lines to blow up and kill Iraqi's. A war with Iran would bring this on us as well and it would be disastrous for the US. Hundreds of thousands of US lives would be lost in a war with Iran, all for nothing. But I doubt our current president can even contemplate the future in that fashion. He has failed to learn from history, he has failed to learn about other cultures before engaging them, and he has used the exact same time of tactic with every other person in the world. His cavalier attitude has cost this country dearly. Its only a shame that he still has time left to screw things up. I have no doubt that he, or possibly a republican successor, will try very hard to get us into further wars.
1. I wanted to write about this today, but other stuff came up that I need to discuss as well. Two thousand troops signed a petition requesting redress from the Iraq War. This is a simple statement essentially saying that they do not believe this war can be won, and that we should bring our troops home. These are troops that have served in Iraq, many of them are officers. So of course, since these are troops against the war, we should support the troops right? Wrong, psychotic right wing doofus's have already started bashing them, and even pointing out that the leader is a Navy seaman who hasn't spent more than six months over there. Of course, support the troops who are willing to die for a pointless war, and castigate the ones that don't agree with it. Bastards! Hypocrites! Sit your ass down and listen to two thousand soldiers tell you that President Bush is an idiot who doesn't know shit about war!
2. Ellen Degenres recently adopted a dog. She realized soon after that the dog would not work well with her cat. She did the good thing and gave it to another family, who has kids and loves it very much. Unfortunately, that violated the adoption rules and the adoption agency took the dog back and gave it to another family. Way to go adoption agency, you completely miss the entire point of adoption, to get animals into the arms of loving owners. An absolutely idiotic move on their part.
3. Russia's President and Iran's President have become all buddy buddy now. In a disturbing turn of events, Russia has made it brutally clear that they are siding with Iran for any future issues. They shook hands and made nice, and I'm sure, pissed off President Bush in the process. We should be very worried that Russia is pushing to be a world power again. We should worry even more that they are siding with extremists that our President is intent on attacking.
4. Turkey now has approval from their parliament to attack the Kurds in Northern Iraq. This can and will have absolutely disastrous results. Why you might ask? Because we will now have to defend Iraq from Turkey. If you plan on playing the part of occupier in a foreign country, you are obligated to defend it. But there is a wicked twist in this one. Iran has already said that it backs Turkey in this situation. It is likely that if Turkey goes to war against Iraq, and essentially the USA, Iran will help them. It will be us versus Iran and Turkey in another country, due to a situation we caused. Our government is not going to make the right decision here. They will bluster about with more statements that start wars and try to bully Turkey into backing down until another sovereign nation gets pissed at being told what to do and attacks any way. Worst case scenario, I'm sure we will see it.
5. Now on to the main event. President George Bush has once again shown why he is too idiotic to be president a nation this big. He spoke of Iran and Isreal in terms of them starting World War Three. He essentially stated that if Iran got nukes, it would be the beginning of world war three. Now while most would say he should stop name calling and threatening Iran and be diplomatic, he has done the exact opposite by continuing the constant saber rattling. The problem is that its not saber rattling, it never has been. He will rattle, then attack, and then things will fall apart as always. He doesn't understand the dynamics of the culture he is threatening. He doesn't know that threats against the country are perceived as personal threats against the man.
He doesn't know history, or he would understand that during the Iran/Iraq war, Iranians, but the dozens, blew themselves up in sacrifice to kill Iraqi's. They did this to protect their country, and even sent their children to the front lines to blow up and kill Iraqi's. A war with Iran would bring this on us as well and it would be disastrous for the US. Hundreds of thousands of US lives would be lost in a war with Iran, all for nothing. But I doubt our current president can even contemplate the future in that fashion. He has failed to learn from history, he has failed to learn about other cultures before engaging them, and he has used the exact same time of tactic with every other person in the world. His cavalier attitude has cost this country dearly. Its only a shame that he still has time left to screw things up. I have no doubt that he, or possibly a republican successor, will try very hard to get us into further wars.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Defining our Lives
In a persons lifetime, they will do many things. Some good, some bad, some of no mention. Our religion does not matter, our political affiliations don't matter, our legacy is always defined the same. Mother Teresa is not known for being Catholic, though she was. She is known for helping the poor and suffering. While the fact that she questioned her faith tarnish her legacy? Surely not, her deeds remain. People remember Elvis Presley because of his singing. The fact that he did drugs and died on the toilet make no difference. Nixon is defined by Watergate, Lincoln by the Civil War, and Truman by the Atomic Bomb. Our legacy is the sum of our lives, divided by the events that made a difference, for better or worse.
The reason why this is important is that I see so many people on forums and blogs that take their words lightly. They will quickly and easily say things about people that are hurtful and harmful just because the can't see them face to face. As well, they don't take that treatment back lightly. Feelings get hurt and people leave over what? Over ideas. Ideas are powerful, strong and compelling, with the power to change nations over night! But ideas can be used to harm others. Ideas, used properly, can hurt feelings and destroy self worth. Ideas are the things nations are built on, and empires are destroyed. Ideas with unbridled passion are as dangerous as any bomb.
I encourage people to speak their mind, but do so with deference towards other people. I speak to my self as well here. I have often said things in haste and typed them down and wish I hadn't later. That type of temper and action are what can mold ideas into a weapon of great force for wrong doing. Words must be typed and written thoughtfully, lest we destroy our fellow man. Words have the ability to knock people down and prevent them from getting back up. As fellow human beings, words should be used carefully, with purpose, with thoughtfulness, to maximize their impact, but minimize their damage. Remember that next time someone disagrees with you and hurls an insult at you. It is our moral duty to take the moral high ground and defend other and abstain from insulting others. Its difficult, and something I fail at often. But it is something I want to strive for. For ultimately, when we die, words and deeds are what define our lives. We are the sum of all our words, and all our actions. Both should be handled with care.
The reason why this is important is that I see so many people on forums and blogs that take their words lightly. They will quickly and easily say things about people that are hurtful and harmful just because the can't see them face to face. As well, they don't take that treatment back lightly. Feelings get hurt and people leave over what? Over ideas. Ideas are powerful, strong and compelling, with the power to change nations over night! But ideas can be used to harm others. Ideas, used properly, can hurt feelings and destroy self worth. Ideas are the things nations are built on, and empires are destroyed. Ideas with unbridled passion are as dangerous as any bomb.
I encourage people to speak their mind, but do so with deference towards other people. I speak to my self as well here. I have often said things in haste and typed them down and wish I hadn't later. That type of temper and action are what can mold ideas into a weapon of great force for wrong doing. Words must be typed and written thoughtfully, lest we destroy our fellow man. Words have the ability to knock people down and prevent them from getting back up. As fellow human beings, words should be used carefully, with purpose, with thoughtfulness, to maximize their impact, but minimize their damage. Remember that next time someone disagrees with you and hurls an insult at you. It is our moral duty to take the moral high ground and defend other and abstain from insulting others. Its difficult, and something I fail at often. But it is something I want to strive for. For ultimately, when we die, words and deeds are what define our lives. We are the sum of all our words, and all our actions. Both should be handled with care.
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