From RootsAction: Breaking Bad News

It's classic. Wait till late on a Friday to announce a reprehensible decision in hopes of minimizing the uproar in response. But the extreme climate crisis doesn't take weekends off. And neither do we.

A State Department report has just declared that the environmental impact of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline would be acceptable. This clears a path for Secretary of State John Kerry to give his approval to the pipeline.


Scientists agree with the assessment of James Hansen that exploitation of the tar sands would be a catastrophe for the climate. This is a planetary emergency -- and right now this is a political emergency.


"Significant impacts to most resources are not expected along the proposed Project route assuming the following," reads the State Department report, before listing a series of improbable assumptions.

No wonder they waited for Friday afternoon!

Originally Posted by Deb C

I'd be interested in what you consider exaggerated statements.

I already mentioned some of the ones you quoted.

Originally Posted by The Wonkette

Yup. It's a lot less disruptive to your live to give up cigarettes than to give up being able to go places on demand, having electricity available 24/7, having temperatures a constant 70 degrees indoors, being able to eat bananas and strawberries in January, being able to heat up a quick meal -- our entire lifestyle is dependent on fossil fuels.

It's scary, when you think about it.

What is much more scary is the fact that we are putting off so long in making the transition to already-viable renewable energy sources. What is scary is what this means for the future, and the immediate future at that! An unliveable planet is already in the works; it may already be too late.

The only people dependent on fossil fuels are the big money CEOs, whose greedy fortunes depend on deceiving us, buying politicians, and thus keeping us hooked to long out-of-date fuels.

We've gone over this umteen times. It's past time to stop making statements like the above, and get on with the exciting task of changing our society.

Originally Posted by Deb C

That's exactly what the environmentalists are trying to do all over the world - educate. It was also a lot of education, photos of the cruelty, and the military draft, that awakened the American public to the disasterous war on Vietnam. Apparently, it's not always just one means of education. When dead and maimed soldiers came home, and the media showed that, coupled with the awareness that their sons, friends, nephews, and husband's lives were on the line, was part of America's awakening. Unfortunately, when the reality of what activists are trying to teach don't personnally affect people, it's way harder to open the mind.

As I mentioned in a previous post, California farmers are looking at the real possibility of a mega drought, meaning it could last for years. That experience, plus other natural disasters that continue to escalate, may be a catalyst for people being willing to listen to the warnings and demand alternative energy. Let's hope it's not too late.

There are other countries who are taking Global Warming much more seriously than we do and they are proving it by expanding alternative energy and changing their lifestyles.

Now, that's the straight truth.

Kerry and Obama have made dealing with climate change a central issue to their careers. The people need to remind them that approving this pipeline would be a drastic step in the wrong direction.

The people and their leaders need to decide which is more important: this supposed USA oil and gas boom due largely to fracking, whose benefits are NOT trickling down in the form of more jobs and income, or a liveable planet with decreased climate change with all its attendant dangers. I don't see how we can embrace more and more oil and gas through fracking and tar sands, and still reverse climate change and pollution.

Ignore at our own peril

Global Climate Change: Less Terrifying, More Horrifying, By Matt Owens


Less terrifying, more horrifying. That, more or less, was the between-the-lines takeaway from Friday’s National Research Council (NRC) briefing on abrupt climate change.
The event was part of an announcement of the NRC’s newly released and finalized report, “Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change: Anticipating Surprises.”

Several of the scientists involved in the report were present, including James White from the University of Colorado at Boulder, Anthony Barnosky from the University of California at Berkeley, and Richard Alley from Penn State University.

In one of the most shocking statements, Barnosky said the world’s oceans are now undergoing a change in pH and temperature that is so rapid and severe, that if we stay on our business-as-usual emissions pathway, then we will see the most significant degradation in the world’s oceans since 250 million years ago when there was the “end-Permian extinction event.” That was possibly the most extreme extinction event in Earth’s entire history. Over 90% of marine species in the fossil record went extinct.
“Just in the next five or six decades we will see some very major problems,” Barnosky said.

Today, the change in temperature of the ocean is primarily being caused by the growing global energy imbalance resulting from the thickening blanket of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide.

The change in pH of the ocean is primarily being caused by the growing global atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, which becomes an acid, carbonic acid, when it dissolves in water. As the methane clathrates increasingly thaw, they will also acidify the water.

On extinction more broadly, Barnosky said that tropical coral reefs and land species in the tropics are first in line for extinction. And coral reefs will disappear in decades on our current emissions path as well. “These are not small effects and again – we’re already starting to see them happen.”

All participants, even Barnosky himself, seemed to be stunned by the details and implications being presented.

Bottom Line

Fundamentally, the feeling from the conference was that some very decent and hardworking people have identified a very bad set of circumstances headed towards mankind, and the general reaction has been a human one: shoot the messenger and/or ignore the problem and hope it goes away.

In the context of this report, that strategy of denial and rejection has sort of worked so far (by a certain logic anyway). After all, a lot of sudden apocalyptic climate change events have been ruled very unlikely with high confidence, at least for another 100 years or so. But the horror of the situation is that very real chronic problems are growing worse. The odds of those chronic problems going away, unfortunately, is about as close to zero as you can get.

The basic truth between the lines of this press event was that we are facing a world that is becoming increasingly hostile to humankind.

We are literally making the planet into a wasteland like this is some post-apocalyptic science fiction story. It is just shocking. And the most horrifying aspect of it all is that we’ve waited to reduce emissions so long that we’re exiting the win-win field of possible climate responses. We’re now headed into a world of lose-lose. That’s the news nobody wants to convey – or hear. But there it is.


More: http://www.carolynbaker.net/2014/01/...by-matt-owens/

MIT and other organizations are presenting on line courses (serious ones) covering climate science, if anyone really has the time.

One way to discuss climate change might be a fictional treatment -- sand dunes covering Hollywood film sets, Dodger Stadium, the Rose Bowl, Knott's Berry Farm, and Disneyland. No, nobody is doing a remake of Lawrence of Arabia in Hollywood. 50C (122F) in Dallas, anyone? That's 5C (9F) warmer than the record in Dallas. Alligators are finding their way into the Hudson and Illinois Rivers, and they are devouring lots of family pets. Beaches near Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland have people deputized to look for alligators.

Sit back and enjoy your nice wine -- from Sweden, now the top producer of fine wines. The Sahara for all practical purposes has shifted north across the Mediterranean, and such cities as Seville, Palermo, and Athens are unlivable in extreme heat and humidity that practically never manifest themselves in rain -- something like the Persian Gulf region. Rome is free of sand dunes because it is inundated -- farewell, O Colosseum! Such architectural wonders as the Alhambra, the Erechtheum, and the Hagia Sophia stand in stark settings. You would never recognize the Barcelona of Picasso or the Arles of Vincent van Gogh. Paris is not quite the same in a steppe setting with all the sandstorms from Spain.

Originally Posted by Deb C

Stop stealing my stuff!

Originally Posted by pbrower2a

One way to discuss climate change might be a fictional treatment

Here's something for real:

http://oklahomawatersurvey.org/?p=387

I think some realistic takeaways are as such.

a. If we take the worst case temp rise of 4.5C , we have some awfully hot summers. We're looking at record highs of , 122, with averages of 104. The 104 reading is pretty much a 3 month average from June through August.

b. Precip. Messy. Fewer days of precip, but more intense = runoff issues. We have clay soil here which sucks at absorbing water. This is fixable to some degree. For in town folks should mulch their clippings/leaves. Farms, which have by far the largest acreage would have to really go no till. It would be nice if we could find a large source of organic matter for our farmers to use to change the actual soil composition. Most of the junk in urban storm drainage is plastic. I think adding a deposit to plastic drink containers is needed badly. Plastic containers are ugly. Don't know, but some may have endocrine disruptors as well. Looks like the panhandle needs to go back to rangeland. That part is supposed to be drier and the Ogalalla shouldn't be wasted on stuff like wheat. Hemp should be a better crop.
Cf. http://nmhemp.com/ [ Of course who knows how hard AGW has to hit some of our dimwit politicians / electorate ] on the head to do this.

c. Mass conversion from incandescent light bulbs to CFL/diode lights. A simple bill can be passed to convert all State owned property to 21st century technology from 19th century. Another bill can be passed to put a tax on wasteful light bulbs / subsidize private conversion. We're going to need that electricity because the hotter it gets, the more AC is needed. [Our constitution only allows for 1 subject per bill.] That is one thing DC needs.

d. New shots. We'll need shots for Dengue Fever, Yellow Fever, and new shots developed for stuff like Chagas disease. Chagas is really nasty. I'd prefer work be done now before this stuff arrives. The current attitude wrt tropical diseases is just like wearing a Hawaiian shirt when a winter storm warning has just been issued.

Originally Posted by Ragnarök_62

a. If we take the worst case temp rise of 4.5C , we have some awfully hot summers. We're looking at record highs of , 122, with averages of 104. The 104 reading is pretty much a 3 month average from June through August.

Thing is, if we get a 4.5 degree temperature rise, we're at a temperature level where historically both the arctic and arctic poles totally thaw. This results in another 4 degree rise.

One hot July a few years ago, Oklahoma had the hottest month of average temperature (88F) for any State of the Union -- ever. (Arizona has mountains, and Texas has a coastline, in case someone was surprised).

Alligators in Lake Erie and on the beaches of Chicago and Milwaukee? No thanks!

From Code Pink:

It’s down to the wire now. The State Department has just released its final assessment of the Keystone XL pipeline, and President Obama is expected to make a decision within the next three months. Will you join us to take a stand in the streets against the latest war on the environment?

CODEPINK has joined 350.org, CREDO, Sierra Club, Rainforest Action Network and many other groups to host emergency protest vigils across the country tonight to urge the President to reject the Keystone XL. Ourentire CODEPINK staff has signed onto the Pledge of Resistance, and hope you will join us in the streets tonight at a location near you.


President Obama has the facts he needs to reject the pipeline. Expected to carry 800,000 barrels per day and spew three times more climate pollution than conventional oil, this would be a disaster for the climate, and the lives of Indigenous communities, farmers and homes along the pipeline’s route.


It’s no secret that if we spent less money on the bloated Pentagon budget we could afford green energy technology. Green energy would create sustainable jobs, take our troops out of harm’s way, and protect the environment.


Join us tonight and over the next three months to call on President Obama to reject the Keystone XL Pipeline NOW!

Originally Posted by Bob B

Thing is, if we get a 4.5 degree temperature rise, we're at a temperature level where historically both the arctic and arctic poles totally thaw. This results in another 4 degree rise.

I would think that the models I've looked at took that scenario into account. In any event I chose the worst case one from the link provided.

Originally Posted by pbrower2a

One hot July a few years ago, Oklahoma had the hottest month of average temperature (88F) for any State of the Union -- ever. (Arizona has mountains, and Texas has a coastline, in case someone was surprised).

Yup. Oklahoma is known for any number of weather extremes. Let's take today's forecast:

Originally Posted by NOAA

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK1200 PM CST MON FEB 3

2014OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-041000-HARPER-WOODS-ALFALFA-GRANT-KAY-ELLIS-WOODWARD-MAJOR-GARFIELD-NOBLE-ROGER MILLS-DEWEY-CUSTER-BLAINE-KINGFISHER-LOGAN-PAYNE-BECKHAM-WASHITA-CADDO-CANADIAN-OKLAHOMA-LINCOLN-GRADY-MCCLAIN-CLEVELAND-POTTAWATOMIE-SEMINOLE-HUGHES-HARMON-GREER-KIOWA-JACKSON-TILLMAN-COMANCHE-STEPHENS-GARVIN-MURRAY-PONTOTOC-COAL-COTTON-JEFFERSON-CARTER-JOHNSTON-ATOKA-LOVE-MARSHALL-BRYAN-HARDEMAN-FOARD-WILBARGER-WICHITA-KNOX-BAYLOR-ARCHER-CLAY-

1200 PM CST MON FEB 3 2014

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK COVERS NORTHERN...WESTERN...CENTRAL...AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS..DAY ONE..
.TODAY AND TONIGHT...THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...NO THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR.

DISCUSSION... A STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT.

PROBABILITY TABLE...
VALID UNTIL 700 AM CST TUESDAY FEB 4.
PROBABILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRING IN THE NWS NORMAN COUNTY WARNING AREA...ZERO PERCENT.

OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER... HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN INNORTHERN OKLAHOMA AFTER MIDNIGHT. TWO TO FOUR INCHES IS EXPECTED BY
700 AM TUESDAY..DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
NO THUNDERSTORMS.
OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...SNOW WILL CONTINUE IN NORTHERN OKLAHOMA THROUGH THE DAYTIME TUESDAY.
UP TO 10 INCHES MAY FALL NEAR THE KANSAS BORDER DECREASING TO ACOUPLE OF INCHES FROM ALTUS TO OKLAHOMA CITY.
THE SNOW IN NORTHERNOKLAHOMA WILL IMPACT TRAVEL SIGNIFICANTLY.
SNOW IS AGAIN EXPECTED AT
THE END OF THE WEEK. SATURDAY IS THE DAY MOST LIKELY TO SEE HEAVY
SNOW
.A VERY COLD AIRMASS WILL ARRIVE TUESDAY NIGHT AND REMAIN IN PLACE
THROUGH THURSDAY. WIND CHILLS VALUES IN THE NORTHERN HALF OF
OKLAHOMA WILL RANGE FROM -15 TO -5 THROUGH MUCH OF THIS PERIOD.
LOWEST WIND CHILL VALUES IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE STATE AND
ADJACENT PARTS OF TEXAS WILL BE -10 TO -5
THURSDAY MORNING.THE NEXT SCHEDULED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED AT 5 AM TUESDAY.
$$

(Bad dog seams to need some more excitement, so I'm gonna send this puppy his way. )
Mr. winter storm, just take I-44 NE from OKC and that should do it. I know you're gonna smack me with 10 inches, but oh well.

Originally Posted by NOAA

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
156 PM CST MON FEB 3 2014
...MORE WINTER WEATHER TO THREATEN THE REGION ON TUESDAY AND
TUESDAY NIGHT...ILZ064-065-069-100>102-MOZ061>065-073-041100-/O.NEW.KLSX.WW.Y.0005.140204T1500Z-140205T1200Z/BOND IL-CLINTON IL-FAYETTE IL-FRANKLIN MO-JEFFERSON MO-MADISON IL-MONROE IL-ST. CHARLES MO-ST. CLAIR IL-ST. LOUIS CITY MO-ST. LOUIS MO-WASHINGTON MO-INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...BELLEVILLE...EDWARDSVILLE...ST CHARLES...ST LOUIS...UNION...VANDALIA

156 PM CST MON FEB 3 2014...
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM TUESDAY TO 6 AMCST
WEDNESDAY...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM TUESDAY TO 6AM CST WEDNESDAY.

* TIMING...SNOW WILL DEVELOP LATE ON TUESDAY MORNING AND TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE INTO TUESDAY NIGHT.
* ACCUMULATIONS...SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 2 TO 5 INCHES.
* WINDS...NORTH TO NORTHEAST AROUND 5 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 20 MPH.* IMPACTS...RAPID ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW WILL MAKE FOR HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS ISSUED FOR A VARIETY OF WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS...
SUCH AS SNOW...BLOWING SNOW...SLEET...OR
FREEZING DRIZZLE AND RAIN. IT ONLY TAKES A SMALL AMOUNT OF WINTRY
PRECIPITATION TO MAKE ROADS...BRIDGES...SIDEWALKS...AND PARKINGLOTS ICY AND DANGEROUS. IT IS OFTEN DIFFICULT TO TELL WHEN ICE
BEGINS TO FORM...SO DO NOT BE CAUGHT OFF GUARD.
&&
$$

This is what happens when there is a snow pack over the Dakotas and the upper air pattern = Siberian Express^TM. Air from Siberia crosses the north pole and crashes down over here. The snow pack keeps the air cold.

Alligators in Lake Erie and on the beaches of Chicago and Milwaukee? No thanks!

Well, alligator tail prepared cajun style is delicious. Perhaps setting up a bounty system for gators and for here those stupid burmese pythons as well. Just market the meat as ->

Alligator and python , the other white meats.

Over 200 Vigils in 44 States on Monday to Protest the Keystone XL Pipeline

WASHINGTON - February 3 - Thousands of activists will join over 200 vigils in 44 states to urge President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline following the release of the State Department’s Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. The Keystone XL pipeline will be a huge source of climate pollution and clearly fails the climate test set by President Obama.


350.org co-founder Bill McKibben will join Clayton Thomas-Muller, lead campaigner with the indigenous movement Idle No More, and other activists at a rally in Union Square, NYC at 6:00pm on Monday night. More information can be found here:
https://actionnetwork.org/events/new-york-says-no-kxl


Large crowds are also expected at events in Washington, DC and San Francisco, CA. A full list of events can be found here:


https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/kxl-fseis

CREDO, the Sierra Club, Rainforest Action Network and 350.org, among a host of other groups, are organizing the vigils following the State Department’s release of the final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) on Friday.

Keystone XL is a tar sands pipeline that would transport some of the dirtiest crude oil on the planet from Alberta Canada, and across American soil for export. The vigils are part of a nationwide campaign to try and stop the pipeline from ruining the climate and endangering communities along the proposed pipeline route.

###

350 is the red line for human beings, the most important number on the planet. The most recent science tells us that unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth. But solutions exist. All around the world, a movement is building to take on the climate crisis, to get humanity out of the danger zone and below 350. This movement is massive, it is diverse, and it is visionary. We are activists, scholars, and scientists. We are leaders in our businesses, our churches, our governments, and our schools. We are clean energy advocates, forward-thinking politicians, and fearless revolutionaries. And we are united around the world, driven to make our planet livable for all who come after us.

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2014/02/03-0

Originally Posted by pbrower2a

One hot July a few years ago, Oklahoma had the hottest month of average temperature (88F) for any State of the Union -- ever. (Arizona has mountains, and Texas has a coastline, in case someone was surprised).

Alligators in Lake Erie and on the beaches of Chicago and Milwaukee? No thanks!

relax...chicago and milwaukee will get colder..not warmer ..

http://www.salon.com/2014/01/07/this...ming_newscred/

as the oceans warm and the arctic sea ice disappears..the jet stream will amplify and form ridges along the coasts..and a broad trough in the middle...so while NY and new england may become a tropical paradise.. the upper midwest and the northern planes will become mired in a new ice age...the western half of the laurentian glacier will prolly have reformed by 2100...so chiwaukeeans(?) need not worry about becoming an alligators breakfast.. although they might have to contend with polar bears...

That forecast went up to 3-6 inches. Jolly.

What makes climate change so challenging?


Ending the World the Human Way: Climate Change as the Anti-News

If the carbon emissions from fossil fuels are allowed to continue to accumulate in the atmosphere, the science of what will happen sooner or later is relatively clear, even if its exact timetable remains in question: this world will be destabilized as will humanity (along with countless other species). We could, at the worst, essentially burn ourselves off Planet Earth. This would prove a passing event for the planet itself, but not for us, nor for any fragment of humanity that managed to survive in some degraded form, nor for the civilizations we’ve developed over thousands of years.

In other words, unlike “the news,” climate change and its potential devastations exist on a time scale not congenial either to media time or to the individual lifetimes of our short-lived species. Great devastations and die-offs have happened before. Give the planet a few million years and life of many sorts will regenerate and undoubtedly thrive. But possibly not us.

End of history?

If the end of the world doesn’t fit well with “the news,” neither does denial. The idea of a futureless humanity is difficult to take in and that has undoubtedly played a role in suppressing the newsiness of both the nuclear situation and climate change. Each is now woven into our lives in essential, if little acknowledged, ways and yet both remain remarkably recessive. Add to that a fatalistic feeling among many that these are issues beyond our capacity to deal with, and you have a potent brew not just for the repression of news but also for the failure to weave what news we do get into a larger picture that we could keep before us as we live our lives. Who, after all, wants to live life like that?


And yet nuclear weapons and climate change are human creations, which means that the problems they represent have human solutions. They are quite literally in our hands. In the case of climate change, we can even point to an example of what can be done about a human-caused global environmental disaster-in-the-making: the “hole” in the ozone layer over Antarctica. Discovered in 1985, it continued to grow for years threatening a prospective health catastrophe. It was found to be due to the effects of CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) compounds used in air-conditioning units, refrigerators, and aerosol propellants, and then released into the atmosphere. In fact, the nations of the world did come together around CFCs, most of which have now been replaced, while that hole has been reduced, though it isn’t expected to heal entirely until much later this century.

Bottom line

What makes climate change so challenging is that the carbon dioxide (and methane) being generated by the extraction, production, and burning of fossil fuels supports the most profitable corporationsin history, as well as energy states like Saudi Arabia and Russia that are, in essence, national versions of such corporations. The drive for profits has so far proven unstoppable. Those who run the big oil companies, like the tobacco companies before them, undoubtedly know what potential harm they are doing to us. They know what it will mean for humanity if resources (and profits) aren't poured into alternative energy research and development. And like those cigarette companies, they go right on. They are indeed intent, for instance, on turning North America into “Saudi America,” and hunting down and extracting the last major reserves of fossil fuel in the most difficult spots on the planet. Their response to climate change has, in fact, been to put some of their vast profits into the funding of a campaign of climate-change denialism (and obfuscation) and into the coffers of chosen politicians and think tanks willing to lend a hand.

In fact, one of the grim wonders of climate change has been the ability of Big Energy and its lobbyists to politicize an issue that wouldn't normally have a “left” or “right,” and to make bad science into an ongoing news story. In other words, an achievement that couldn’t be morecriminal in nature has also been their great coup de théâtre.

In a world heading toward the brink, here’s the strange thing: most of the time that brink is nowhere in sight. And how can you get people together to solve a human-caused problem when it’s so seldom meaningfully in the news (and so regularly challenged by energy interests when it is)?


This is the road to hell and it has not been paved with good intentions. If we stay on it, we won’t even be able to say that future historians considered us both a wonder (for our ability to create world-ending scenarios and put them into effect) and a disgrace (for our inability to face what we had done). By then, humanity might have arrived at the end of history, and so of historians.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/02/03

Fear and anxiety about global warming isn't the problem. It's our running from those emotions that distract us from the creativity that it will take to turn things around.

"You are not alone! We are part of a vast, global movement: the epochal transitionfrom empire to Earth community. This is the Great Turning. And the excitement, the alarm, even the overwhelm we feel, are all part of our waking up to this collective adventure."

Of all the dangers we face, from climate chaos to permanent war, none is so great as this deadening of our response. For psychic numbing impedes our capacity to process and respond to information. The energy expended in pushing down despair is diverted from more crucial uses, depleting the resilience and imagination needed for fresh visions and strategies.

Zen poet Thich Nhat Hanh was asked, “what do we most need to do to save our world?” His answer was this: “What we most need to do is to hear within us the sounds of the Earth crying.”

Cracking the Shell

How do we confront what we scarcely dare to think? How do we face our grief, fear, and rage without “going to pieces?”


It is good to realize that falling apart is not such a bad thing. Indeed, it is as essential to transformation as the cracking of outgrown shells. Anxieties and doubts can be healthy and creative, not only for the person, but for the society, because they permit new and original approaches to reality.


What disintegrates in periods of rapid transformation is not the self, but its defenses and assumptions. Self-protection restricts vision and movement like a suit of armor, making it harder to adapt. Going to pieces, however uncomfortable, can open us up to new perceptions, new data, and new responses.

Ultimately

When we stop distracting ourselves by trying to figure the chances of success or failure, our minds and hearts are liberated into the present moment. This moment then becomes alive, charged with possibilities, as we realize how lucky we are to be alive now, to take part in this planetary adventure.

http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/cl...paign=20140205

Four inches on the ground, and no melt for a week. Where all the coins that those guys are flipping to pay Ameren/UE?

Originally Posted by Bad Dog

Four inches on the ground, and no melt for a week. Where all the coins that those guys are flipping to pay Ameren/UE?

A friend told me about a relative of his who lives in a rural area, they didn't have the $3,000 that the propane company wanted to refill their propane tank. The driver of the tanker insisted that he had strict instructions to have the money up front before even loosening the valve. Many are having to choose between food and heat. I just find this so frigging sad.

Originally Posted by Deb C

A friend told me about a relative of his who lives in a rural area, they didn't have the $3,000 that the propane company wanted to refill their propane tank. The driver of the tanker insisted that he had strict instructions to have the money up front before even loosening the valve. Many are having to choose between food and heat. I just find this so frigging sad.

It's a bleak winter. I'm probably going to be moving what remains of my stuff in it. Saw a nice 1BR in Maplewood tonight. $70/month utilities makes a big difference.

Originally Posted by Bad Dog

It's a bleak winter. I'm probably going to be moving what remains of my stuff in it. Saw a nice 1BR in Maplewood tonight. $70/month utilities makes a big difference.

Maplewood is a pretty nice place to live. Very community oriented.

Sorry that you might have to move in these frigid temperatures.

Originally Posted by Deb C

A friend told me about a relative of his who lives in a rural area, they didn't have the $3,000 that the propane company wanted to refill their propane tank. The driver of the tanker insisted that he had strict instructions to have the money up front before even loosening the valve. Many are having to choose between food and heat. I just find this so frigging sad.

That's one way to kill a business -- price the commodity that it sells into the stratosphere and make it impossible for most people to buy it. Businesses lose customers that way. People find alternatives -- like wintering elsewhere.