mother nature

Today’s earthquake is another stark reminder that government regulations do save lives:

From seawalls that line stretches of Japan’s coastline, to skyscrapers that sway to absorb earthquakes, to building codes that are among the world’s most rigorous, no country may be better prepared to withstand earthquakes than Japan.

Had any other populous country suffered the 8.9 magnitude earthquake that shook Japan on Friday, tens of thousands of people might already be counted among the dead. So far, Japan’s death toll is in the hundreds, although it is certain to rise somewhat.

Ironically, it was just over a year ago that I posted something along the same lines. That was following the Chilean earthquake, where the loss of life was minimal. In terms of regulations, Chile ranks right up there with Japan.

I really hate turning devastation, like we are seeing right now, into political debate, but this is life and death we are talking about. Every time I hear some Republican or Tea Partier talking about “government controlling our lives through regulation”, I got to wonder how dense they really are. I know I want to make sure my family is in buildings that can sustain whatever mother nature, or any other disaster, might throw its way. I don’t trust corporations to “do the right thing” and neither should you, because when you find out that they did lie, or cut a few corners, it’s usually too late.

The Republicans and their little followers just can’t seem to comprehend that “Global Warming” actually means climate change:

Al Gore is scheduled before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday morning to once again testify on the 'urgent need' to combat global warming.
But Mother Nature seems ready to freeze the proceedings.

A 'Winter Storm Watch' has been posted for the nation's capitol and there is a potential for significant snow... sleet... or ice accumulations.

"I can't imagine the Democrats would want to showcase Mr. Gore and his new findings on global warming as a winter storm rages outside," a Republican lawmaker emailed the DRUDGE REPORT. "And if the ice really piles up, it will not be safe to travel."

A spokesman for Sen. John Kerry, who chairs the committee, was not immediately available to comment on contingency plans.

Global warming advocates have suggested this year's wild winter spells are proof of climate change.

Ecuador could get a foot of snow and the right would sit there and say “see the climate is fine – no global warming”. True these are the same people that thing the TV series 24 is a documentary.

Cardinal

Originally uploaded by intoxination

This little guy stood still long enough for me to grab this shot the other day. That was the day before our stormfest started and the town become wrecked by mother nature.

Well it looks like Bush might have found a work-around for the pesty environmental claims:

Proposed budget cuts could cripple a nationwide system of Environmental Protection Agency libraries that government researchers and others depend on for hard-to-find technical information, library advocates say.

The $2 million cut sought by the White House would reduce the 35-year-old EPA Library Network's budget by 80 percent and force many of its 10 regional libraries to close, according to the advocates and internal agency documents.

That, in turn, would dramatically reduce access to certain EPA reports, guidance and technical documents that are used by the agency's scientific and enforcement staff as well as private businesses and citizens, they say.

"They are moving ahead very quickly on very substantive cuts to their library program," said Patrice McDermott, deputy director of the American Library Association's Office of Government Relations. "They really don't have a good plan for continuing to provide access for the public, and even their own researchers and scientists, to the information."

That's how they can do it. Get rid of research and make previous data next to impossible to find then we won't know what has really happened. Bush is environmental terrorist number one and this is just another one of this attacks on his victim - mother nature. Now think of that - save $2 million in order to help screw the environment and every life on this planet, a week after Congress passes a $70 billion tax cut. Now that is priorities.

(OK it has been a while since I done one of these)

For years Presidential campaigns have been fought and won
on wars. Until recently the wars haven’t been the more violent ones, but the
catch phrases are victory getters none the less.

“The War on Drugs” or “The War on Abortion”. These are the
phrases candidates like to use. They actually bestow a sense of confidence and
ass kicking into the voter base. Republicans have been good at using these catch
phrases to muster the support they need but with one of those wars failing and
the other one possibly coming to an end, its time for the Democrats to create
some wars.

The first war they should start is the “War on
Environmental Terrorists”. These terrorists will have no place to hide. We will
hunt them down to all corners of the globe and make them pay for the tyranny
they have placed upon poor Mother Nature. We go after them on their battle
fields. We place heavy sanctions on them and fight them there so we don’t have
to fight them here. There of course means actually cutting the emissions at the
factories and not bringing them to court for a slap on the wrist.

With the strongest hurricane on record aiming for Florida,
it should be an enormous wake up call that we must do something to correct our
out of balance environment. Of course if you’re George Bush, balancing it means
pumping more pollution out so that there is no clean air left in the world.