 home
archives
last week
feedback
Rolla Peace News December 31, 2019 |
|
Dear Friends: http://tomsager.org/Peaceletters/peaceletter123119.html In this newsletter is: 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2019 2. THE MISFIT MATHEMATICIAN (Tom's column, http://tomsager.org) Scientists Say ... But Don't Necessarily Believe Them 1. NOON VIGIL FOR PEACE: THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 2019 We vigil for peace in front of the Rolla Post Office, THIS THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 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 50s. 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) Scientists Say ... But Don't Necessarily Believe Them I cringe every time I read that scientists say that we only have 12 more years (now 11) to prevent irreversible damage from climate change. Tell that to the families of the 88 who died in the Camp Fire which obliterated Paradise, California . Tell that to the thousands and thousands of climate refugees leaving Africa, the Middle East and Central America, hoping to make a new life in a land not quite so degraded by Climate Change. Tell that to the farmers and ranchers of Australia whose livelihood has gone up in smoke or those who are hunkered down in their boats as smoke and fire rage closer and closer.“Surprisingly, scientists proved as susceptible to herd-think as everyone else, and equally unaware of it.” In truth, we don't have 12 years — or even one year — not even a day. Climate Change is NOW. Oh, what egregious errors hath our scientists made. I haven't heard many apologies from the scientists who have been so busy developing the technology for fouling our air with the byproducts of burning fossil fuels or from those who have consistently low-balled the danger of Climate Change. Have you? Military scientists are even worse. As we embark on a new era of War-making and the militarization of space, scientists are there at the forefront. At least three different groups of scientists in the United States are working on protecting our satellites from the high energy electrons that would result from a nuclear blast in space. This is very important to the folks who contemplate nuclear war. It is difficult to continue fighting when your eyes and ears have been blown out in the first volley, other than to lash out blindly with everything you have left. And with our nuclear treaties falling by the wayside, nuclear war becomes ever more likely. Of course China and Russia won't be sitting on their duffs while the United States develops space-fighting capabilities. So while the Earth burns ever hotter under its increasingly thick mantle of anthropogenic carbon, the great powers embark on a new and potentially far more destructive weapons race. Now that's what I call keeping priorities straight. But there is a silver-lining to this dark cloud. Should you choose to vacation in outer space, this new technology could protect you from electromagnetic radiation as you cross the Van Allen belts. And furthermore, should you be unlucky enough to survive the initial exchange of nuclear bombs, you can rest assured that our satellites have survived and will still be beaming Beavis and Butt-Head replays down to Earth. And that's not all! Should you be unlucky enough to survive the initial nuclear blasts, scientists are working hard developing algorithms to compute whether you would be safer hunkering down where you are, or making a beeline for the closest fallout shelter before deadly radioactive fallout arrives. The bottom line... Don't look to the scientists to save humanity from nuclear warfare and global warming. Get out there in the streets and save humanity yourself. 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 |