:: Naked Brunch: Out of Control ::

People in prison for 5-10 years for possession of an ounce or even two of Marijuana, at it's root level Hemp (Cannabis sativa), a plant species used to make rope and now clothing.  The bud of which is smoked, like tobacco, for it's calming effect on the nervous system.  I know quite a few people who would be better for it if they smoked the stuff.  And, people are thrown in jail for it on a felony charge.  When I can go into any health food store and combine herbal supplements and get a similar effect legally.  The fact that Hemp was banned in the U.S. due to stupidity rather than the reality of it's "drug" effect seems to matter not 75 years later.  The fact that the drug is now used by health professional in many states as the only thing that readily helps glaucoma and cancer patients, among others, is proof and evident that it can serve a real purpose other than "getting high."  (Personally, I don't see how you can get high on a depressant.  It's absurd.)  It is legal in the U.S. to subscribe Cocaine, Methadone, Barbiturates, Amphetamines, among other controlled substances.  What the hell is wrong with Marijuana, a drug that is non-addictive and harms no one.  The absurdity stuns me.

This leads me to this story in the Washington Post about Jessica Hall.  Our laws are out of control, when someone is put in jail for tossing a cup of ice into a passing car window.  The situation is more complicated than that, but, the crime doesn't come close to meting out the ultimate punishment.  This is absolutely fucking insane.  It's like being sued by your Homeowners Association and being thrown out of your subdivision and fined for leaving your garage door open once during the day. The Crime doesn't equal the punishment.  I'd like to see people petition the Tim Kaine, Governor of Virginia to pardon this woman immediately.  She has clearly learned her lesson already without more of this crap and her record should be cleared of the Felony charge.  A fucking missile.  For fucks sake people.  The judge, jury and especially the prosecutor must feel really proud of this moment.  Implementation of this stupid law needs serious refinement.  I doubt anyone who created the legislation meant anything like this.  And, if they did, they are seriously wrongheaded.  A McDonald's waxed paper cup filled with ice.  Cripes.  Even the people it was aimed at think this is stupid and all she should have faced was a day of community service.

This is the enemy, make no mistake:  Mitch McConnell of Ky., Sen Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., John Boehner, R-Ohio, Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla.   Total clusterfucks, each and every one of them.  Those that voted against the resolution in the Senate yesterday include Lieberman, the gigantic idiot, as well as these Republics: 

Alexander (Tenn.), Allard (Colo.), Brownback (Kan.), Bunning (Ky.), Burr (N.C.), Chambliss (Ga.), Coburn (Okla.), Cornyn (Tex.), Craig (Idaho), Crapo (Idaho), DeMint (S.C.), Dole (N.C.), Domenici (N.M.), Enzi (Wyo.), Graham (S.C.), Grassley (Iowa), Gregg (N.H.), Hutchison (Tex.), Inhofe (Okla.), Isakson (Ga.), Lott (Miss.), Lugar (Ind.), Martinez (Fla.), McConnell (Ky.), Roberts (Kan.), Sessions (Ala.), Shelby (Ala.), Stevens (Alaska), Sununu (N.H.), Thomas (Wyo.), Thune (S.D.), Vitter (La.), Voinovich (Ohio).

Bush:  Incompetent and Arrogant (PDF)  Yet, he is still in office.

Greenwald:  Creepy is Right - On Odom's Speedslap Lesson to the warmongers & Victory Caucus

it is hard to put into words how creepy and Orwellian not only the "Victory Caucus" itself is, but particularly the logo they have created:

Compare that to the logo used in the superb film V for Vendetta, which depicts a tyrannical government that relies upon fear-mongering and protective authoritarian leaders to justify its repression and endless wars:

Copyists.  They have no original ideas themselves.  Their view of life is so narrow, they can't even conceive of not winning, much less other points of view that fit into their rigid mentalities.

tag: marijuana, THC, cannabis, ice, felony, law, thrown missile, road rage, vendetta, greenwald, victory caucus, general odom, senate, resolution, iraq, failure, enemy, politics, press

:: A Lesson: The Difference between Climate & Weather ::

For all you global warming or climate change skeptics/naysayers out there, or for those of you who would like to understand the difference, CAP has provided a great and simple explanation that bears reposting:

Earlier this month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report that confirmed and refined what scientists already knew: The recent global warming trend is real, it is caused primarily by human activities, and we can expect further dangerous warming of a few degrees if we don't reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases. Despite the very high level of confidence that the IPCC placed on this assertion, climate skeptics refuse to allow themselves to be convinced by the facts. Global warming deniers--desperate for any information that might contravene the science--have latched onto this month's colder-than-normal temperatures that have gripped much of the U.S., particularly the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions. In fact, the temperature patterns we are currently experiencing are exactly what increasing greenhouse gas emissions predicts: climate destabilization.

• Weather and climate are two distinct and separate concepts. To understand why the current cold snap across the U.S. is occurring during a global warming trend, one must first understand the distinction between climate and weather. Climate is the "composite or generally prevailing weather conditions of a region, as temperature, air pressure, humidity, precipitation, sunshine, cloudiness, and winds, throughout the year, averaged over a series of years." In other words, climate refers to recorded history. Weather, on the hand, is current events; it refers to the "state of the atmosphere at a given time and place." Weather is a snapshot of the climate at any one instant. Although the two are related, their relationship is indirect. "The chaotic nature of weather means that no conclusion about climate can ever be drawn from a single data point, hot or cold. The temperature of one place at one time...says nothing about climate, much less climate change, much less global climate change."
  
  
• The current trend of snowfall across the country is consistent with the increased precipitation expected to occur with a warming globe. Scientists have said "snowfall is often predicted to increase in many regions in response to anthropogenic [human-induced] climate change, since warmer air, all other things being equal, holds more moisture, and therefore, the potential for greater amounts of precipitation whatever form that precipitation takes." Based on computer models, a recent study by the National Center for Atmospheric Research found, "As Earth gets warmer, large regions will experience heavier rain and snowfall as weather becomes generally more intense." The NCAR climate models have predicted that heavier rains and/or snow would most likely affect regions where large masses of air converge, including northwestern and northeastern North America.
  
  
• Around the globe, the existence of a warming trend is clear. The long-trend trends present clear evidence that climate change is "real and serious." The IPCC report noted that the "the warmth of the last half century is unusual in at least the previous 1300 years." Of the 12 hottest years on record, 11 have occurred since 1995. The 2006 average annual temperature for the contiguous U.S. was the warmest on record and nearly identical to the record set in 1998, according to scientists at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center. Residents of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area have this week been hit by a "gusty wintry wallop" and are experiencing below-average temperatures for this month. Yet, the deviation below the average temperature for February is still less than the above-average deviation that D.C. residents experienced during the month of January. While the climate change trend is clear, the weather patterns at different moments in time will be hard to predict.

I'm liking Tom Vilsack more all the time.

tag: temperature, climate, weather, climate change, global warming, tom vilsack, president, campaign, environment, energy, policy, government, IPCC

:: Global Warming and Sadomasochist Penguins ::

Have a gander at these videos I found this morning on Global Warming aka Climate Change. The headlines in the articles linked below also reiterate the importance of the videos contents. (Excepting the humorous Penguin parody! I just needed some humor after reading and watching all of this. Thought you might as well.)

+ Panel Issues Bleak Report on Climate Change

+ Humans Faulted for Global Warming: International Panel of Climate Scientists Sounds Dire Alarm

+ Grist: IPCC: Yeah, You Know Me (The 411 on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)

+ A selection from the Society of Environmental Journalists

+ From Real Climate:

The IPCC Fourth Assessment SPM: We've had a policy of (mostly) not commenting on the various drafts, misquotes and mistaken readings of the Fourth Assessment report ("AR4" to those in the acronym loop) of the IPCC. Now that the summary for policy makers (or "SPM") has actually been published though, we can discuss the substance of the report without having to worry that the details will change. This post will only be our first cut at talking about the whole report. We plan on going chapter by chapter, hopefully explaining the key issues and the remaining key uncertainties over the next few months. This report will be referenced repeatedly over the next few years, and so we can take the time to do a reasonable job explaining what's in it and why.
(more...)

Quick pre-SPM round-up: Tomorrow is the big day for all IPCC-watchers (and we'll comment then) but in the meantime here are a few interesting tidbits floating around today. First off, there are some curious patterns in the whitehouse.gov search engine. It turns out that it has been blocked from returning most results if the search phrase includes "global warming" - even if it's from the President himself. For instance, searching for "issue of global" gives as top result the President's Rose Garden speech in June 2001 on Global Climate Change, but searching for "issue of global warming" (which of course is the full phrase used) returns nothing. Hmmm.....<[Hmmmmmm....indeed]

+ From Thoughts from Kansas: IPCC on Hurricanes, Where's My Payola?, and IPCC Summary for Policymakers Released

+ CALLING ALL MUSICIANS: The Muse Campaign (Spread the word!)

And, just for fun, watch these sadomasochist Penguins in "Farce of the Penguins"

tag: farce of the penguins, penguins, climate change, global warming, environment, IPCC, IPCC Report, government, policy, pollution, Muse Campaign, Samuel L. Jackson, Bob Saget, Bush, whitehouse, denial, human, humans, sadomasochist penguin, video, youtube, playlist, Domestic Agenda, Politics, Humor, Nature, Music, Film, issue advocacy, media, Ecology, survival, new music, the decider, news