A threat multiplier, what's that?

Veterans can get involved in the fight for solar and wind and alternatives to fossil fuel.  Vent your spleen on congress's bald face opposition to more fuel efficient vehicles, tanks, ships, buildings.  Congress is trying to keep the biggest fleet of vehicles and the biggest owner of buildings in the world (the US military complex)  gobbling up oil and coal and part of the force tied to fuel convoys, no matter the cost in $'s or lives.   Go to   http://www.operationfree.net, they will guide you through letter writing and phoning if you want the help.

Profiles in Kansas Courage

Kansas Senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran, both Republicans RSVP'd and attended a pre vote reception held by former Kansas GOP Senator Bob Dole, contender for VP and for Prez and WWII wounded vet.  His wife former Senator Elisabeth Dole attended also caring for and pushing the ailing Senator in a wheelchair.

The reception attended by most the Senators, was to promote the disability treaty which vote counters thought would pass.  Both Roberts and Moran promised the Dole's they would vote for the treaty.  Dole sat in wheelchair on the floor of the Senate and was wheeled off by Elisabeth when the vote  started.

Both Kansas Senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran then slithered to the bench and whispered their votes against the treaty.  Both cowards had stood next to Dole 5 minutes earlier with their hands on the ailing giants shoulder.  Neither coward was willing to call out their vote for fear the CNN broadcast would pick up their betrayal of Dole.  Others failed Dole as well, but these two from his own state, this was vile and disgusting, and for what, bowing to the tea bags and the fear media.  What a sad day that the GOP couldn't stand up for disabled people around the world, this treaty had one goal and impacted only one thing, disabled people elsewhere, it imposed rights copied from our own laws, it would not have affected us in any way.  Instead, it showed the 100+ nations that have ratified the treaty that we are hostage to and afraid of the political midgets among us.

Profiles in GOP Courage.  What a display.

tear tracks

Squandering away the hours of my life on this sculpture, a low relief in alabaster about 8"x8".   Not finished yet with the detail or the polishing.  The pattern in the stone is really dramatic, but it's playing hell with the shadows and detail in certain lighting, competing and confusing the contour created image.  It may end up as one of those sculptures that only looks good in the right lighting situations, in other words, it won't be winning any gallery space.  

Exxon Hates Your Children

I am not sure about this kind of add.  It makes a good point, though in an uneasy way.  Being a recovering Republican, reregistered as a Dem a few years ago, I'm well aware the Reichwing uses this kind of "bloody their noses" attack adds and are completely OK with it, in fact they thrive on it, it's their cottage industry.  Still, the video has a point, profit first, delay and sew doubt, bribe and greenwash your way to a few more years of massive profits and welfare.

Kentucky Senator Ashley Judd

Sure sounds better than Senator McConnell.  Mitch has never won in a landslide and 2014 is his year, 72 then.  This week McConnell hired a 2014 campaign manager, same guy that ran teabag Dentist Rand Pauls campaign.  Ashley, 8th generation Kentuckian, may be able to retire the red neck wattle of McConnell.  I sure hope so.  I have heard her in two interviews.  She is an excellent speaker, smart, and she cares about common folks and fair play for people and the environment.  It appears she will run.

The free market, utility rates based on GOP tax model

My local natural gas supplier ask for a rate increase.  Oh the red state said sure, so long as you don't hose the rich guys.
Why the rate increase?  Global warming has given years of mild winters and record highs, such as yesterday 72°F, night time temps in the high 50's.  Gas usage is low, at the same time fracking is creating a glut.  If the market is to work, our rates should be going down down down, supply exceeds demand.
Well, doesn't work that way in the red states, not when capitalist have a monopoly on the market and in the state government.  To ease the burden on people with big houses, rather than raise the rates on volume, they raised it as a service charge.  Everyone saw an increase, even if you use nothing, the volume rate also went up, but not much.
Same thing happened here last month with water rates, but for a different reason, we are using too much water, the demand is putting pressure on the supply, so whats the cure, sha-zam, same cure, raise the service rate more than the volume rate.
In both cases, people who use large volumes of gas and water have a proportional increase smaller than those who use very little.  I say it favors the rich and/or wasteful, same as the GOP tax plan.

Black Carbon the global warming multiplier

Black Carbon, or soot, primarily comes from burning wood, dung, coal (unscrubbed smokestack or in the open), from forest fires, from 3rd world dirty diesel fuel.  Soot comes off the fire with CO2, but acts differently.

CO2 is mostly invisible, stays in the atmosphere almost forever if not absorbed, and only a percentage can be absorbed at any one time.  CO2 acts as a blanket, increasing the earths temp by holding in heat that would otherwise be radiated into space.

Black Carbon can be seen, floating about it absorbs the incoming solar heat, increasing the atmospheric temperature in a completely different way than CO2.  Winds carry it around the world, falling to earth within a few weeks, but most of it falls within the first few days in the region it was generated, that which falls on snow and ice absorb sun light raising local temps and accelerating the melt

From Pakistan to China intense levels of heating and cooking with wood, dung, grass, plus the dirtiest power plants and diesel trucks in the world produce smoke that is visible from space, much of it settleing on Himalaya glaciers.  Within 15 years the glaciers will be nearly gone.  Large areas of Southeast Asia gets 30 to 40% of its water from the glacier melt.  Famine and starvation on a scale the earth has never seen is near, the vultures will be fat.

Black carbon is thought to be about 40% of the heat gain problem among the various greenhouse gasses.  It is also the easiest to halt, with the shortest payback, a couple of months it's out of the atmosphere, a hard snowfall and it is hidden from absorbing heat into the glacier.  There is a big push in India to get people to use a new style of cooking stove that burns 60% less fuel and sends up 70% less soot, but at $20 many cannot afford it.  Cleaner diesel and a turning away from coal has to be immediate as well.

In some cities in the US, mostly small resort locations, Vail for example, fire places are now regulated, fewer are allowed to be built, there are days where it is not allowed to use them at all.  We have a fireplace, but rarely use it, and now, knowing this, it may never burn again.

Mid 70's (F) here in central Kansas the last few days have seen each with a record high.  Mid December and the cows are covered with flies, and the drought continues.  Meat prices up 8% by late spring.  The water table is dropping, irrigation from underground sources has it's limits.