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Rolla Peace News January 22, 2019 |
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Dear Friends: http://tomsager.org/Peaceletters/peaceletter012219.html In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2019 2. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Government Shuts Down Climate Data b) Pacific Gas and Electric Suspected Of Arson, Kills 80, Declares Bankruptcy c) Palestine: Occupation Breeds Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs d) Nicaragua: Fifth In Global Equality For Women e) Get a Goat 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2019 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office, THIS THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, FROM NOON TO 1:00 PM (and most subsequent Thursdays until peace is established). Please try to join us. The temperature is predicted to be in the low 30s. If you do not feel comfortable standing with us in front of the Post Office, please consider driving by and showing your support for our message by honking your horn and flashing a peace sign. 2. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) a) Government Shuts Down Climate Data b) Pacific Gas and Electric Suspected Of Arson, Kills 80, Declares Bankruptcy c) Palestine: Occupation Breeds Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs d) Nicaragua: Fifth In Global Equality For Women e) Get a Goat GOVERNMENT SHUTS DOWN CLIMATE DATA Parts of NOAA that deal with climate change have been shut down, so for the first time, I am unable to update my climate graph this month. (A petty annoyance compared to losing one's job or missing a paycheck.) In addition an important NASA study on the melting of the polar ice sheets has run out of money because of the government shutdown. I suspect that not wanting to publicize the terrible climate data from 2018 contributes to the desire to shut down the government. Nevertheless, much of the bad news is available, if you wish to look for it and do some of your own calculations. CO2 in the atmosphere this December is almost 2ppm higher than December 2017. 2018 has become the fourth warmest year on record. The last five years are the five warmest on record. Extreme weather losses topped $85 billion in 2018. The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are melting faster than scientists thought. And Australia is suffering under a humongous heat wave as I write. PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC SUSPECTED OF ARSON, KILLS 80, DECLARES BANKRUPTCY I wonder if an ordinary person like you or I could do this — cause a fire that kills over 80 and does billions of dollars of damage and then declare bankruptcy and walk. PALESTINE: OCCUPATION BREEDS ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT SUPERBUGS Germs do not respect national boundaries (and we should not either). Lack of clean water, sewage treatment and basic necessities due to the 50 year long Israeli occupation, has turned Palestine into a breeding ground for antibiotic-resistant superbugs which could spread to Israel and elsewhere. NICARAGUA: FIFTH IN GLOBAL EQUALITY FOR WOMEN The World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report for 2018 is out. Nicaragua ranks fifth (after Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland). The United States ranks 51st out of 149 countries, not even in the top third. As far as political empowerment goes, Nicaragua ranks number 2, the United States ranks 98th. Yet, here in the United States we lambaste Nicaragua as a dictatorship and slap brutal sanctions on the country. Rather than sanctioning Nicaragua, perhaps, we could learn from Nicaragua. Say what you will about Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega. To my knowledge he has never bragged about grabbing women by the p---y. Nevertheless, the United States made great progress in the November 2018 elections. Congress is now almost 25% women, and some, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, are very strong and outspoken. GET A GOAT Nevada City, California is planning a novel solution to the threat of wildfire. They are trying to raise $30,000 to buy a herd of goats to eat down the vegetation around Nevada City before it can catch fire. While this may protect the city somewhat from wildfire, it is unlikely to protect California from the hotter drier climate that comes with global warming, the root cause of the devastating California wildfires of the past few years. Indeed, it may exacerbate global warming as livestock are a major source of greenhouse gases. Still, Nevada City deserves credit for this proactive solution, and I suspect it will work a lot better than “raking” the forest as Donald Trump proposed. We need lots more proactive solutions to prepare us for upcoming climate disasters. Unfortunately, we lag way behind. Rolla Peace News is distributed by email once a week on Tuesday evenings (except on rare occasions) and is posted on the web at http://tomsager.org (click on Grassroots Rolla: at the top of rightmost column). If you don't wish to get notices of peace events in the Rolla area, let me know and I'll take you off this list. If you want to be added to this list, let me know. Wage peace, Helen helenm (at) fidnet.com |