Concerto for blunt instrument

An irregular heartbeat from d.o. to you. Not like a daily kos, more like a sometime sloth. Fast relief from the symptoms of blogarrhea and predicated on the understanding that the world is not a stage for our actions, rather it is a living organism upon which we depend for our existence.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Gore-El's warning




"When Earth began experiencing a series of global warming events, Gore-El investigated, and soon discovered that Earth’s atmosphere was greatly unstable, and would eventually cause floods, mega-storms, and an unstable climate, taking the entire planet and its populace into chaos. Gore-El tried to convince the members of Earth's ruling body, the U.S. Congress, of this impending disaster, and urged steps be taken to lessen the impact of the climate crisis. However, the Congress was dismissive of Gore-El's findings, and refused to comply with his plan."



Ok, ok, so it’s a stretch, right? But I’ve been writing for nearly two decades now that I, myself often feel like Jor-El must have (albeit he’s a fictional character from the planet Krypton!) when he tried to raise the alarm about the threat to his planet. Back in 1992 when The World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity first appeared awareness of the planet’s plight was not exactly high. In fact, activists who are now firmly onboard the global warming bandwagon were nowhere to be found on the issue back then. However, Al Gore was not one of them. His book, “Earth in the Balance” was published in 1992. It was from that book I first saw the frightening photo of the dried-up Aral Sea.



Yesterday, March 21, 2007, the first day of spring, Al Gore took his climate crisis concerns to the U.S. Congress. Thankfully, most senators and congressional representatives were more attentive than their fictional counter-parts in the Hall of Wisdom on the planet Krypton. However, most wisdom aside, The U.S. congress has its own version of the derisive and doubtful Vad-Ar the Elder in the person of U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe. The Republican senator from Oklahoma has nearly built his career on trashing the science of global warming, calling it the hoax of the century. Yesterday Gore and his detractors had their "Hall of Wisdom" moment. "It is my perspective that your global warming alarmist pronouncements are now and have always been filled with inaccuracies and misleading statements," Inhofe said. "You're not just off a little, you're totally wrong," Texas Republican Joe Barton said. "Those who believe all his garbage are going to be excited to death," said Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), "and the rest of us are going to ignore it." Unlike Jor-El of Superman fame, Gore did not despair and return home to save his own. Instead he pressed on: "There is a sense of hope in this country that this United States Congress will rise to the occasion and present meaningful solutions to this crisis," Gore said. "Our world faces a true planetary emergency. I know the phrase sounds shrill, and I know it's a challenge to the moral imagination.". Let’s see if Washington can meet the challenge.



(Happy birthday, Jack!)

Friday, March 09, 2007

Take back the airwaves



This morning NPR did a hit piece on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez that reminded me soooooo much of its 1980s reporting on Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua. Like the New York Times and other organs of the status quo, National Public Relations...er...Radio?...continues The Empire's long-standing tradition of misinforming the public with their "news" segments while bashing lefties with their editorial segments. You know the drill, right? One thing though, a critical point often overlooked even among progressives and anarchists: NPR and their broadcasting ilk are using the PUBLIC airwaves. If they can't get it right and report the real news they should have their license pulled. On to the poetics:





Take back the airwaves

Good morning America
in this mornings' news you lose
you lose because it is not news
you lose because occupants of
the corner office upstairs through
revolving doors to easy street
all look the same on the links
sharing drinks, buying minks
good evening, that's how it is
today, or some such blanket
coverage, the drum hums on and
that's a look at the world, little
people scurrying about (they
look like ants down there!) for
a sugar fix brought to you by
perception managers, newsless patients,
thieves in the night.

Good morning America, take back
your airwaves, they have
fallen into enemy hands.
Pull the plug, throw the book,
yell out the window, bang on pots,
off with the heads before
the network of sticky webs
binds the minds that would set
free consumers, citizens once more
good evening, good night,
it's really good news.