Obama's Bush-Style Surge: Revoke Nobel Peace Prize

The U.K.'s Telegraph is anticipating that the newly-announced winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is planning a surge of up to 45,000 more troops in Afghanistan, bringing the U.S. total force there to 110,000 service persons:

The US is expected to announce a significant surge of up to 45,000 extra troops for Afghanistan after Gordon Brown said that 500 more British troops would be sent to the country...

President Barack Obama's administration is understood to have told the British government that it could announce, as early as next week, the substantial increase to its 65,000 troops already serving there.

This will be a terrible disaster. The Soviets could not subdue Afghanistan, and the wasted resources in their attempt is often cited as a reason for their final fall. It could be America's end too. The body-counts of our kids are likely to pile-up dreadfully, and we will probably be at much greater risk for a new round of domestic terror like the 2001 attacks. It is always right to turn the other cheek, but it is usually human nature to fight back.

I was congratulatory and glad that President Obama won the Nobel Prize, but I'm sure this should absolutely disqualify him from such an honor.

CO2 Still Rising Fast - Arctic Ice Cap Imminently Threatened

Despite the worst global recession since WW2, carbon dioxide atmospheric concentrations are continuing to rise rapidly. NOAA has just reported their measurement for September 2009 at 384.78 PPM, with a seasonally adjusted figure of 388.00 PPM. This reflects a robust year-on-year increase of 1.71 PPM, comparable or higher than many years which had strong economic growth.

UCLA scientists recently noted that CO2 levels have not been so high since the Miocene epoch 15 million years ago, with global temperatures 7 or 8 degrees higher than present.

Wikipedia says:

Oceans cooled partly due the formation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, and about 15 million years ago the ice cap in the southern hemisphere started to grow to its present form. The Greenland ice cap developed later, in the Middle Pliocene time, about 3 million years ago.

We are witnessing the live disintegration of the Arctic ice cap, and with CO2 levels continuing to grow swiftly, it's time is likely short. Without the Arctic ice, the darker (water vs snow) surface will absorb even more heat, accelerating the Greenland ice melt.

Global warming is much worse than the press are reporting, and it's happening very fast.

Kepler Mission Online - Space Alien Signal Soon?

Scientists' best estimates about astronomy and biology (astrobiology) suggest many reasons it is likely we will soon find proof-positive that there are extra-terrestrial intelligent civilizations sharing our galaxy.

I doubt very much that extraterrestrials visit our planet often, if ever. Interstellar (beyond a solar system) travel is generally prohibitively expensive as far as our physics can project. But signals or emissions patterns leak out of possibly billions of advanced civilizations into the universe. From us, through T.V. signals, Hitler's unfortunate 1936 Olympics Games speech, "I Love Lucy," and "Howdy Doody" have already broadcasted their electromagnetic patterns many light years beyond Earth, possibly within detection-range of a listening civilization in orbit around another star. So, if they do visit us, don't be too surprised by an enthusiastic, "Lucy!! I'm home!" as their greeting. E.T. might presume it customary.

In 1960, long before we dreamed of the Hubble Telescope or the Kepler Mission, a scientist named Frank Drake created a mathematical model to determine the most likely number of "technologically advanced" civilizations in our galaxy. His theory is centered on the eponymous "Drake Equation" which would provide a mathematically definite answer, if only we knew the required pieces of information. Some of this information is how many stars there are, how many stars have planets, and how many of those planets are suitable for life to evolve. For most of five decades, the calculations and solutions to Drake's "probability of aliens" have been mostly speculative without much data. Estimates based on rational probability have suggested "optimism" that the sky is a-twitter with noisy who-knows-how-little-and-why-green-men transmissions. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation )

SETI (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) is a project to detect those "alien" signals. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SETI ). You might not know this, but it is true, that we are actually dedicating some of our most powerful supercomputing grids to looking for unnatural patterns in the radio telescope data from beyond our galaxy. We could "hear" them any day.

Now, 49 years after Drake asked the question, NASA's Kepler Mission is poised to provide some answers. For the first time ever, we will be able to look out into a distance into the Milky Way Galaxy and find planets that look a lot like our own Earth. A recent NASA press release states:

"This early result shows the Kepler detection system is performing right on the mark," said David Koch, deputy principal investigator of NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif. "It bodes well for Kepler's prospects to be able to detect Earth-size planets."

SETI and astrobiology expect at least two areas of important results from this exciting project.

"Optimists" who anticipate many galactic civilizations have successfully argued from a probability standpoint that they are correct. Kepler will make the guessers obsolete with hard, cold data. Watch for "Loads of Earth-like Planets" headlines quite soon, unless we "optimists" are wrong.

And secondly, scientists have been forced to listen at the sky for E.T. signals at more or less random directions because they didn't really know where to look. When Kepler zooms it's "sharp eye" on several relatively near Earth-like planets, we'll know right where to listen.

My gut wager: headlines of "Scientists Detect Definitive Intelligent Extra-Terrestrial Signal" will be confirmed before the kids get much older.

Hat tip to Carl Sagan. He has shaped my thinking on our place in the Cosmos with his brilliance. He shined so brightly among we Star-Stuff.

Dr. Dean Expains How Public Option Saves Us All Money

From a Joshua Holland interview via Alternet:

Joshua Holland: Now, you note that the debate has shifted over the years, from "how do we cover the uninsured?" to "how do we contain out-of-control costs?" So, in terms of this public insurance option, it'll result in a very large insurance pool, which will give it the ability to negotiate better prices and cut down on overhead. Can you just give me a little bit more on other ways that it might help contain costs?

Doctor Howard Dean: Well, there are two ways it contains costs. The first is that, of course, it's a huge pool. The second is, in terms of containing costs for ordinary Americans, [Medicare] can't and won't engage in the kinds of things that private insurance companies do. They don't have bureaucrats who second-guess doctors and make bad medical decisions. They don't pay extraordinary amounts of money for repeat procedures -- at least they do that less than the private sector does. They don't pay chief executives in the seven-, eight- or nine-figure range for their salaries. They don't have to advertise.

So it's much cheaper and more effective and efficient to control costs if you have a large public option. And the other thing about this is that the American people get to choose. You know, the Republicans are screaming and yelling about socialized medicine. Well, let the American people choose -- if they don't like it they won't choose it.

Thanks Doctor Howard Dean!! Doctors orders: give all Americans the choice to decide to opt for private insurance or a Strong Public Option. We cannot settle for a bill that funds only private insurance companies with taxpayer dollars without giving each individual a choice of an efficient, patient-oriented Medicare-like program.

They Legalized Rape. Are You Glad We "Liberated" Afghanistan?

We sent our kids to Afghanistan to give them Democracy. What do you suppose Afghans might do with a Democracy?

The Independent is reporting:

An Afghan law which legalized rape has been sent back to parliament with a clause letting husbands starve their wives if they refuse to have sex...

The amendments were passed to the cabinet this week and signed by Mr Karzai on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch said last night.

[Women's rights activist Wazhma Frough observes,] "if the wife doesn't accept her husband's sexual requirements then he can deny her food."

According to civil society groups, the law, which regulates the personal affairs of Afghanistan's minority Shia community, still includes clauses which allow rapists to marry their victims as a way of absolving their crime and it tacitly approves child marriage...

It is due to be ratified by parliament, which first passed the legislation in March with hardly any debate.

Since 2001, over 6,000 United States-allied forces have been killed, and over 4,000 have been wounded in Afghanistan. Over 20,000 "enemies" have been killed by "coalition" and allied forces. According to the National Priorities Project, American taxpayers have spent over 191 billion dollars on the War in Afghanistan. That money could go a long way toward improving health-care, but apparently our politicians would rather preserve the right to rape for those whose culture supports it.

And Barack Obama is instituting his own new "surge" to step up our military campaign to preserve this "Democratic" right to perpetrate these kinds of extremely repugnant policies. These are the fruits of the recent military adventurism by the United States. Can we please tell Barack that his wars are not holier than Bush's wars?

END THE WARS NOW.

Dave Carroll: United Breaks Guitars

Catchy and fun, Dave Caroll's song and music video puts entertainment and technology to good use. Several times recently, I have experienced similar frustration with airlines' uncaring employees:



Carroll explains the whole true story that lead to this song here : http://www.davecarrollmusic.com/story/united-breaks-guitars

Last year, I received cavalier rudeness from U.S. Airways employees. After our flight had been unable to land, we were routed back to the connection airport. We were told to leave the airport because FAA regulations prohibited staying in the terminal. Many of us had nowhere to go, and the airline employees almost seemed to enjoy telling us that they could not help in any way.

The Internet may be the medium that helps save us all from these abusive experiences. When talented people like Dave Carroll get the word out, change becomes possible. Rate his video up and spread it around!!

Thanks Dr. Dean and woo-hoo (!!) for Senator Franken

From Alternet, I hear that Gov. ( & Dr.) Howard Dean is among those campaigning to have an up-or-down vote on a bill with a "Public Option" for Healthcare Reform.

http://standwithdrdean.com/ :

Any legislation without the choice of a public option is only insurance reform and not the healthcare reform America needs.

-- Dr. Howard Dean

Well said -- and three-quarters of our country wants a public option choice that can compete fairly with private insurers.

Joining the Good Guys now is Senator Al Franken . According to Wikipedia, he is a Grateful Dead fan . His radio show spectacularly demonstrated his insight and moral courage. I'm very excited to see him join the Senate. I hope Minnesota wants a Healthcare Public Option! :-)

Barefooters on the web and Twitter

Why is going barefoot groovy?? Well, bare feet are healthier, more fun, and better in-touch with the ground below you. My favorite place for barefoot hiking is near all the lakes and waterfalls in the forested mountains of Western NC.

Saw a new barefooters online website: http://www.livingbarefoot.info/ that also Twitters: http://twitter.com/Living_barefoot .

Groove how you groove.

The weather's boring compared to the Climate!

A title I use not lightly after surviving in the town as a Tornado hit last Friday (Connecticut):

http://www.courant.com/community/wethersfield/hc-wethersfield-ct-tornado-farmington-broad-st,0,2470956.story

Apparently 1979 was the last major tornado around here. A home on the other end of my family's town up here that got "sliced in half" last week is noteworthy and saddening for the residents and community. We and our home are gratefully unscathed.

But enough human interest for now; there may be important news.

Let's ask the Arctic ice scientists!

National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC):

nsidc.org : NSIDC unclassified real-time Arctic ice melt data

The questions I have submitted:

Have you decided when your next press release will be?

We are seeing record-high atmospheric measures of CO2 and the lowest solar activity in many decades in the same recent time period. Recessions have not appeared to have sufficiently stemmed large increases in industrial greenhouse-gas emissions. Current and recent data measuring arctic ice extent track statistically close to the record-lows of arctic ice extent that were reached in 2007. If emissions keep growing, as the next solar maximum is approached around 2013, and with feedback from current and past arctic melt decreasing area for ice albedo (and possibly increasing release of previously frozen methane), are scientists honestly warning the public loudly enough? How quickly could multiple feedbacks result in intolerable, irreparable harm to the global environment?

Your organization is a phenomenal service for providing such important information and data for all readers.

Thanks, NSIDC scientists!

-- Ryvr - Asheville, NC

They are scientists, not editorialists. I'm an editorialist. And they have shown strong evidence of an underreported acceleration of the effects of global warming in the Arctic. Thanks for their work!

Meta and Mixed Monday

So my plan is to make this one an eclectic "anything goes" blog, and also to launch a separate:

- Guitar & Music blog

&

- Fiction & Poetry blog

---

Guitar / Music:

If you're interested in learning some guitar basics, you should definitely check out Justin Sandercoe's online by-donation video lessons:

http://www.justinguitar.com/

---

and now for a brief fiction snippet break ...

The Professional Women of Purgatory by Ryvr

The tribe of aging women signaled among themselves their intention to move on to the next house on the street. Their nearly synchronized steps began in a motion quite slower than the second-hand on an old clock, building smoothly to a Southern mosey tempo.

After arriving several meters down the road, arranged like a school of fish, they drifted to a set of new tasks. A few mutters served plenty well for communication to direct each to her correct assignment. Some prestidigitated quick structural repairs to the house by use of clever tricks since there were not actually materials to use for patching. Changing the angle of a shutter to lay a shadow over a severe crack in the edifice was happily effective. A small group efficiently corralled fallen branches and leaves into a tidy pile. These would be collected for burning before the cool of Autumn.

The women studied the ground intensely since it would be like sacrilege for them to acknowledge the approaching carriage pulled by a horse. One woman who mentioned weeks ago how nice it would be to hear the sound of a car engine was no longer welcome with the group. She had made it sound as though things had changed.

The man with somewhat greasy hair hanging well down his back gently shook his reins. He smiled wistfully to see these women wandering around their dead neighborhood. They were like ghosts in purgatory who could not move into the new heaven, and they still thought suburbia was alive.

---

And for entertainment and historical purposes, you may view my old blog at: http://ryvrscrawl.blogspot.com/ ... I will undertake a post-mortem review of what was right and wrong in that blog within the next few weeks.

Sunday Night: Week Eve's Really Important News

* Arctic Sea Ice Extent Tracking Close to 2007 Record-Lows

According to data collected by the National Snow and Ice Data Center of Boulder, Colorado, the area covered by ice in the Arctic early this summer is once again near the record-low levels that occurred in 2007.

Earlier in June, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published a record-high measurement of atmospheric CO2 concentration of 390.18 parts per million. This is up from 370 ppm in 2001 when George W. Bush assumed office and from 333 ppm in 1977 when Jimmy Carter became President.

Data: http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/ , ftp://ftp.cmdl.noaa.gov/ccg/co2/trends/co2_mm_mlo.txt

* Coup D'Etat in Honduras; Hugo Chávez threatens military force to protect Honduran democracy

From the UK Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/28/honduras-zelaya-coup-chavez