Yes, A Few Other People "Get It"
Yep, it's Al Gore - the guy who invented
the Internet. Okay, not really.
I, the feathery, well-groomed, Yellow Canary do herby state that I am not insane. In fact, there are a handful of other people in this world—some even famous—who see things the same way I do. Now, most people have thrown their dented cans in the food bin for Hurricane Katrina and have returned to their apathetic, indifferent, ambivalent, and meaningless lives. Now, that's okay, because Margaret Mead, the famous anthropologist, said it only takes a handful of determined people to make a difference. So, to you Joe Six Pack and to you Sally Singeth Loudest in the Choir — please continue your daily drivel while Rome burns all around you. But for those few of you who want to join me in saving Mother Earth, take my hand and let's go. I don't care if people think I'm nuts for using the term "Mother Earth." I DON'T care if some Granola Republican thinks that's a hippie term. I really, really, really don't care.
Why the Al Gore photo, Canary?
Oh yeah, the purpose of this post. Brother Al Gore is a great Canary and a great Hero for the cause. Last week he made a surprise visit at the Sierra Club national conference in San Francisco and gave a wonderful speech. The following are some excerpts with my comments. Brother Gore is the greatest, and I have seen proof with my own eyes that the 2000 Florida election was rigged. I have seen how right-wing corporate mongrels with a self-serving agenda now control U.S. elections. But anyway, here's Al ...
Excerpts from Al Gore Speech, Sept. 9, San Francisco, CA:
All of us know that our nation - all of us, the United States of America - failed the people of New Orleans and the gulf coast when this hurricane was approaching them, and when it struck. When the corpses of American citizens are floating in toxic floodwaters five days after a hurricane strikes, it is time not only to respond directly to the victims of the catastrophe but to hold the processes of our nation accountable, and the leaders of our nation accountable, for the failures that have taken place.
Yellow Canary: I agree. This has made me realize that our federal government is a listless, useless, bureaucratic monolith.
The Bible in which I believe, in my own faith tradition, says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish."
Yellow Canary: This is the best quote ever, and it comes out Proverbs. See, the cognitive dissonance tears me apart every day. Because I LOVE the church I attend every Sunday, but my church lacks vision. They refuse to address global warming, human overpopulation, pollution, and the sources of SO MANY of our problems. Instead, they respond to the short-term effects and symptoms of greater global ills. The conservative church has no vision, and when they perish, they will take all of humanity down with them. In their drive to "save souls" I really don't think they are saving anything or anyone.
In the early days of the unfolding catastrophe, the President compared our ongoing efforts in Iraq to World War Two and victory over Japan. Let me cite one difference between those two historical events: When imperial Japan attacked us at Pearl Harbor, Franklin Roosevelt did not invade Indonesia.
Yellow Canary: More classic Al Gore — I love it. Oh, by the way, Bush is a buffoon. Is it okay for me to say that here?
There are scientific warnings now of another onrushing catastrophe. We were warned of an imminent attack by Al Qaeda; we didn't respond. We were warned the levees would break in New Orleans; we didn't respond. Now, the scientific community is warning us that the average hurricane will continue to get stronger because of global warming. A scientist at MIT has published a study well before this tragedy showing that since the 1970s, hurricanes in both the Atlantic and the Pacific have increased in duration, and in intensity, by about 50%. The newscasters told us after Hurricane Katrina went over the southern tip of Florida that there was a particular danger for the Gulf Coast of the hurricanes becoming much stronger because it was passing over unusually warm waters in the gulf. The waters in the gulf have been unusually warm. The oceans generally have been getting warmer. And the pattern is exactly consistent with what scientists have predicted for twenty years. Two thousand scientists, in a hundred countries, engaged in the most elaborate, well organized scientific collaboration in the history of humankind, have produced long-since a consensus that we will face a string of terrible catastrophes unless we act to prepare ourselves and deal with the underlying causes of global warming. It is important to learn the lessons of what happens when scientific evidence and clear authoritative warnings are ignored in order to induce our leaders not to do it again and not to ignore the scientists again and not to leave us unprotected in the face of those threats that are facing us right now.
Yellow Canary: Thank you, Brother Gore. I have been trying to tell people this but no one listens. They would just rather donate some dirty old clothes and be done with it. People just want to REACT to problems that are getting worse rather than addressing root causes. Hell yeah, warmer water means stronger hurricanes. Hello? Anyone home? Exxon? George W. Bush? Hello????
Winston Churchill, when the storm was gathering on continental Europe, provided warnings of what was at stake. And he said this about the government then in power in England - which wasn't sure that the threat was real, he said, "They go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all powerful to be impotent." He continued, "The era of procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and baffling expedience of delays, is coming to a close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences."
Yellow Canary: Great quote from Churchill. Yep, everyone is in denial about global warming, or they say, "The problem is too big, so what the hell?" We are turning our planet into a really hot ball, and there's no way to get off (maybe billionaires could afford to go to the moon).
Ladies and gentlemen, the warnings about global warming have been extremely clear for a long time. We are facing a global climate crisis. It is deepening. We are entering a period of consequences. Churchill also said this, and he directed it at the people of his country who were looking for any way to avoid having to really confront the threat that he was warning of and asking them to prepare for. He said that he understood why there was a natural desire to deny the reality of the situation and to search for vain
hope that it wasn't really as serious as some claimed it was. He said they should know the truth. And after the appeasement by Neville Chamberlain, he sad, "This is only the beginning of the reckoning. This only the first sip, the first foretaste, of a bitter cup which will be proffered to us year by year - unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigor, we rise again and take our stand for freedom."
Yellow Canary: More Churchill quotes. I just love it. Well, the speech goes on and on. But the point is made: Global warming is exacerbating the hurricanes that now plague the southeastern U.S. coast. The little yuppies will throw a handful of change into the Red Cross cup and jump back into their Hummers. But, I tell ya, serious times are ahead. Once Bush leaves office he'll go down in history along with Harrison and other nothingness presidents. But you and I, man, we are stuck with the problem, and our kids are stuck with the problem. And that stinks.
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon him not understanding."
Yep, it's Al Gore - the guy who invented
the Internet. Okay, not really.
I, the feathery, well-groomed, Yellow Canary do herby state that I am not insane. In fact, there are a handful of other people in this world—some even famous—who see things the same way I do. Now, most people have thrown their dented cans in the food bin for Hurricane Katrina and have returned to their apathetic, indifferent, ambivalent, and meaningless lives. Now, that's okay, because Margaret Mead, the famous anthropologist, said it only takes a handful of determined people to make a difference. So, to you Joe Six Pack and to you Sally Singeth Loudest in the Choir — please continue your daily drivel while Rome burns all around you. But for those few of you who want to join me in saving Mother Earth, take my hand and let's go. I don't care if people think I'm nuts for using the term "Mother Earth." I DON'T care if some Granola Republican thinks that's a hippie term. I really, really, really don't care.
Why the Al Gore photo, Canary?
Oh yeah, the purpose of this post. Brother Al Gore is a great Canary and a great Hero for the cause. Last week he made a surprise visit at the Sierra Club national conference in San Francisco and gave a wonderful speech. The following are some excerpts with my comments. Brother Gore is the greatest, and I have seen proof with my own eyes that the 2000 Florida election was rigged. I have seen how right-wing corporate mongrels with a self-serving agenda now control U.S. elections. But anyway, here's Al ...
Excerpts from Al Gore Speech, Sept. 9, San Francisco, CA:
All of us know that our nation - all of us, the United States of America - failed the people of New Orleans and the gulf coast when this hurricane was approaching them, and when it struck. When the corpses of American citizens are floating in toxic floodwaters five days after a hurricane strikes, it is time not only to respond directly to the victims of the catastrophe but to hold the processes of our nation accountable, and the leaders of our nation accountable, for the failures that have taken place.
Yellow Canary: I agree. This has made me realize that our federal government is a listless, useless, bureaucratic monolith.
The Bible in which I believe, in my own faith tradition, says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish."
Yellow Canary: This is the best quote ever, and it comes out Proverbs. See, the cognitive dissonance tears me apart every day. Because I LOVE the church I attend every Sunday, but my church lacks vision. They refuse to address global warming, human overpopulation, pollution, and the sources of SO MANY of our problems. Instead, they respond to the short-term effects and symptoms of greater global ills. The conservative church has no vision, and when they perish, they will take all of humanity down with them. In their drive to "save souls" I really don't think they are saving anything or anyone.
In the early days of the unfolding catastrophe, the President compared our ongoing efforts in Iraq to World War Two and victory over Japan. Let me cite one difference between those two historical events: When imperial Japan attacked us at Pearl Harbor, Franklin Roosevelt did not invade Indonesia.
Yellow Canary: More classic Al Gore — I love it. Oh, by the way, Bush is a buffoon. Is it okay for me to say that here?
There are scientific warnings now of another onrushing catastrophe. We were warned of an imminent attack by Al Qaeda; we didn't respond. We were warned the levees would break in New Orleans; we didn't respond. Now, the scientific community is warning us that the average hurricane will continue to get stronger because of global warming. A scientist at MIT has published a study well before this tragedy showing that since the 1970s, hurricanes in both the Atlantic and the Pacific have increased in duration, and in intensity, by about 50%. The newscasters told us after Hurricane Katrina went over the southern tip of Florida that there was a particular danger for the Gulf Coast of the hurricanes becoming much stronger because it was passing over unusually warm waters in the gulf. The waters in the gulf have been unusually warm. The oceans generally have been getting warmer. And the pattern is exactly consistent with what scientists have predicted for twenty years. Two thousand scientists, in a hundred countries, engaged in the most elaborate, well organized scientific collaboration in the history of humankind, have produced long-since a consensus that we will face a string of terrible catastrophes unless we act to prepare ourselves and deal with the underlying causes of global warming. It is important to learn the lessons of what happens when scientific evidence and clear authoritative warnings are ignored in order to induce our leaders not to do it again and not to ignore the scientists again and not to leave us unprotected in the face of those threats that are facing us right now.
Yellow Canary: Thank you, Brother Gore. I have been trying to tell people this but no one listens. They would just rather donate some dirty old clothes and be done with it. People just want to REACT to problems that are getting worse rather than addressing root causes. Hell yeah, warmer water means stronger hurricanes. Hello? Anyone home? Exxon? George W. Bush? Hello????
Winston Churchill, when the storm was gathering on continental Europe, provided warnings of what was at stake. And he said this about the government then in power in England - which wasn't sure that the threat was real, he said, "They go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all powerful to be impotent." He continued, "The era of procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and baffling expedience of delays, is coming to a close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences."
Yellow Canary: Great quote from Churchill. Yep, everyone is in denial about global warming, or they say, "The problem is too big, so what the hell?" We are turning our planet into a really hot ball, and there's no way to get off (maybe billionaires could afford to go to the moon).
Ladies and gentlemen, the warnings about global warming have been extremely clear for a long time. We are facing a global climate crisis. It is deepening. We are entering a period of consequences. Churchill also said this, and he directed it at the people of his country who were looking for any way to avoid having to really confront the threat that he was warning of and asking them to prepare for. He said that he understood why there was a natural desire to deny the reality of the situation and to search for vain
hope that it wasn't really as serious as some claimed it was. He said they should know the truth. And after the appeasement by Neville Chamberlain, he sad, "This is only the beginning of the reckoning. This only the first sip, the first foretaste, of a bitter cup which will be proffered to us year by year - unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigor, we rise again and take our stand for freedom."
Yellow Canary: More Churchill quotes. I just love it. Well, the speech goes on and on. But the point is made: Global warming is exacerbating the hurricanes that now plague the southeastern U.S. coast. The little yuppies will throw a handful of change into the Red Cross cup and jump back into their Hummers. But, I tell ya, serious times are ahead. Once Bush leaves office he'll go down in history along with Harrison and other nothingness presidents. But you and I, man, we are stuck with the problem, and our kids are stuck with the problem. And that stinks.
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon him not understanding."
—Upton Sinclair
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