July 17, 2011
Drought?
The NY Times scared me this morning with an article titled "Drought: A Creeping Disaster." But is this hot, dry air a drought or just an opportunity for a Rick Perry "pray for rain" event? Neither is one disturbing response. It may be permanent. "You can't really call it a drought because that implies a temporary change. The models show a progressive aridification. You don't say that the Sahara is in drought. It's a desert...if the models are right then the Southwest will face permanent drying out." It is not just our problem--this is one more global issue that cannot be swept under a rug.
Perth, Australia, could become the world's first "ghost city": a modern city abandoned for lack of water. Next? Los Angeles, Phoenix or Las Vegas. Ah, you say, lucky us. We are here and they are not. Want to bet that the southwest will just accept this news? How about diverting the Mississippi River to help the people of the Southwest? No way, you say? Ask people in Alton, Illinois or Missouri what the Army Corps of Engineers is cabable of doing.
If we must begin drinking recycled sewage, under a "toilet to tap" program, anything is possible except survival without water.
Climate change remains a hoax to the great minds of the Republican Party, but for the rest of us, we need a recognition of the crisis. Can Wisconsin be Wisconsin with day after day of 100-degree heat? I don't think so.
Executive pay outs: M&I Bank was, as you know, sold to a Canadian company. The men who negotiated the deal took care of themselves! "This is just the way things are done these days," said one apologist. Maybe. Mark Furlong, president and CEO, got $18 million and $6 million per year if he stays on. Sixteen other executives will get almost $47 million in cash.
If you like the way they negotiate, wait until they get their hands on your credit union! (A little curious if this is the way things are done?) Leave us alone! Let's call for meetings of all credit unions before it is too late.
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Why does the party of the great "No!", a/k/a the Republican'ts, deny global warming and scientific evidence to support the facts that the climate is changing and not to the better?
I cringe every time I hear "Army Corps of Engineers" for this one group has done more environmental harm to our waterways than any other group. As soon as they begin diverting waterways to satisfy corporations and populations of people living where people ought not to be living, that'll be it for the rest of us.
I recall a BWCA outfitter once where we stocked up on supplies prior to an extended canoe trip. One curious item on the shelf was a tin of dehydrated water. I thought this to be a great idea, lightweight and easy to pack. The directions were simple enough for even a Republican't or an Army Corp engineer to understand: To reconstitute, add 1 gallon of water.
If good, clean water were only this simple.
-Franz Fripplfrappl | Madison | July 17, 2011
Not to diminish the global climate change argument but the southwest has seen droughts that have lasted up to three decades. These severe climate events may well have played a part in the abandonment of places like Mesa Verde. Living in the desert after escaping Wisconsin is an eye opener. Water use being the biggest surprise.
Despite what you may think the two biggest uses of water in many areas are for flood irrigation (growing sweet corn in Florence AZ? ~ Really?) and as a media for moving coal slurry to power plants.
New Mexico, where I live, has a super abundance of sunshine but very little in the way of solar energy. When projects are planned it is super systems out in the desert but here in Las Cruces we have acres of empty Big Box rooftops available yet nobody in the state can see that. Our dear (GOP!~) governor just got rid of a former Richardson appointee to an energy board. This person was in charge of alternative energy. So, even as we sit in the middle of a severe drought and burn coal to keep the air conditioning on the GOP governor fires a person in charge of finding sustainable alternatives.
Talk about being stuck in stupid! Of course the Gov was fronted by the energy crowd.
In the meantime I use the pool at our apartment complex every day and it saves me from needing to take shower so that is how I save water. It works as I rarely, if ever, sweat in this dry climate. I do need to shampoo though as the water is hard on the little hair I have left. Still, when I think about the Wisconsin muggy weather I am ...
-Griebnotz Doerkpfester | (Glad) I Escaped, WI> | July 17, 2011
Okay. Here you liberals go again with that climate change babble. I mean, come on. If climate change was actually happening, we'd probably be in a huge heat wave right now. Not just a day or so of upper 80s or low 90s - I'm talking days of mid- to upper-90s. And probably a heat wave that would be gripping most of the country. So, come on. Stop with the horror stories. Gotta go. The air conditioner just quit.
-Bob N. | Oregon, WI | July 17, 2011
Yes, Ed, I entirely agree with your stance on both issues - - - global warming and the M&I takeover. But when you say about global warming "...this is one more global issue that cannot be swept under a rug", I have to wonder. I definitely think that it SHOULD NOT be swept under the rug, but if I were a betting man, I'd sadly have to bet that it WILL continue to be diminished/obfuscated by the Republicans/Libertarians. The obvious reason is for crass political purposes --- it plays well to their partisans so they'll keep going to the well. The Republican electorate have shown themselves to be VERY amenable to hearing what they want to hear (ie; there's WMDs in Iraq, Ronald Reagan/W/Palin/etc were/are good candidates/leaders, Republicans embrace 'family values' more than Democrats, our military needs more money, the media is 'liberal', Tea Party-ers are a grass-roots political force, etc, etc) even when these things are blatantly, discernibly false. I see the Republicans continuing this ruse even if the average temperature in January in WI gets to be 70ºF - - - why wouldn't they? If they can get their minions to believe all the other crap (EVEN economic theories that hurt many of their own constituency) that they peddle, what reason would they have to change their tune? Some sort of ethical epiphany? They've shown themselves to be utterly immune to that. And with BIG money interests (ie; the coal & petroleum industries primarily) behind this anti-global warming push, they can continue pumping out the propaganda long after it's discredited.
The M&I golden parachutes just demonstrates the Republican / corporate version of 'accountability'. As an executive, you get huge sums when you're hired, retained, & fired --- even with 'just cause'. You can also just predict that it'll be a matter of time before the new Canadian owners start reducing staff (down at the level where people actually DO THINGS), and one of the reasons will be to recoup the 'acquisition costs'.
-Big Em | Milwaukee, WI | July 17, 2011
Ed, I have written a novel, Twenty One Hundred, about water, politics, and power. Available as an ebook on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple Ibookstore for Ipad. ISBN: 9781937003852, MOBI & 9781937003869, ePub
It is about a water pipeline from Duluth to Tucson; Lake Superior is ruined. It's also about a "28th" Amendment being added to the Constitution so that states can break away on their own without congressional approval.
What's happening in Wisconsin under Walker makes me sick. My father, Arvid Anderson has an award named after him by the ABA, "The Arvid Anderson Public Sector Labor and Employment Attorney of the Year Award." He spent 60 years of his life dedicated to public sector labor relations; and, now, in his 90th year of life, he is appalled by what's happening in Wisconsin.
My uncle, Norman Anderson, former Speaker of the Assembly, was a friend and colleague of Gaylord Nelson, founder of Earth Day, Governor and U.S. Senator. The days when you could work with a moderate Republican are gone. There are no Warren Knowles; there are no 'Tiny' Kruegers.
Hopefully, with the Senate recalls, Wisconsinites can put the breaks on the anti-labor, anti-environmental Republican majorities in the legislature. And, if and when, Scott Walker is recalled from office next January or February, The great state of Wisconsin can resume its progressive tradition. The state of John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Nate Feinsinger, and Edwin Witte, U.W. professor and main author of the Social Security Act.
One more thing, no 'sweetheart' laws to circumvent the mining laws so that the proposed iron mine near Mellen and Copper Falls can be "fast-tracked."
-Steven Arvid Anderson | Appleton, Wisconsin. | July 17, 2011
Bob, global warming is not based upon what the temperature is in one region over one season or one year. It is based upon what is happening over a long period of time (decades and centuries) over the entire planet. So Bob, do some reading of factual information from many sources around the globe going back 40 years to the present and don't base your opinion on your narrow view of what you experience in your back yard. You and your back yard do not represent the entire planet.
-Craig Koch | Appleton, WI | July 18, 2011
I thought we all decided to blame global warming and natural disasters on gays and abortion. Isn't this what the GOP would want?
-Pietr Haikuu | Hurley | July 18, 2011
I think the attack on credit unions in WI is a very serious threat, an endgame move amongst the other such moves made by the financial-corporate powers to take away from the little people any path of financial freedom or measure of independence. We credit-union members all need to take this seriously right now. It is quite a final and deadly financial attack.
-bruce powell | antigo WI | July 19, 2011
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