When Nouriel Speaks People had better Listen...

Here is an interesting with Nouriel Roubini about the current state of the global economy. He thinks a big crash is coming and that there is another bubble that has formed in commodities.

Index Universe (IU.com) interview with Nouriel Roubini.

Michael Moore's Letter to President Obama Congratulating him on Winning the Nobel Peace Prize

Dear President Obama,

How outstanding that you've been recognized today as a man of peace. Your swift, early pronouncements -- you will close Guantanamo, you will bring the troops home from Iraq, you want a nuclear weapon-free world, you admitted to the Iranians that we overthrew their democratically-elected president in 1953, you made that great speech to the Islamic world in Cairo, you've eliminated that useless term "The War on Terror," you've put an end to torture -- these have all made us and the rest of the world feel a bit more safe considering the disaster of the past eight years. In eight months you have done an about face and taken this country in a much more sane direction.

But...

The irony that you have been awarded this prize on the 2nd day of the ninth year of our War in Afghanistan is not lost on anyone. You are truly at a crossroads now. You can listen to the generals and expand the war (only to result in a far-too-predictable defeat) or you can declare Bush's Wars over, and bring all the troops home. Now. That's what a true man of peace would do.

There is nothing wrong with you doing what the last guy failed to do -- capture the man or men responsible for the mass murder of 3,000 people on 9/11. BUT YOU CANNOT DO THAT WITH TANKS AND TROOPS. You are pursuing a criminal, not an army. You do not use a stick of dynamite to get rid of a mouse.

The Taliban is another matter. That is a problem for the people of Afghanistan to resolve -- just as we did in 1776, the French did in 1789, the Cubans did in 1959, the Nicaraguans did in 1979 and the people of East Berlin did in 1989. One thing is certain through all revolutions by people who wish to be free -- they ultimately have to bring about that freedom themselves. Others can be supportive, but freedom can not be delivered from the front seat of someone else's Humvee.

You have to end our involvement in Afghanistan now. If you don't, you'll have no choice but to return the prize to Oslo.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. Your opposition has spent the morning attacking you for bringing such good will to this country. Why do they hate America so much? I get the feeling that if you found the cure for cancer this afternoon they'd be denouncing you for destroying free enterprise because cancer centers would have to close. There are those who say you've done nothing yet to deserve this award. As far as I'm concerned, the very fact that you've offered to walk into the minefield of hate and try to undo the irreparable damage the last president did is not only appreciated by me and millions of others, it is also an act of true bravery. That's why you got the prize. The whole world is depending on the U.S. -- and you -- to literally save this planet. Let's not let them down.

Climate Change Speeding Toward Irreversible Tipping Points

The speed and scope of global warming is now overtaking even the most sobering predictions of the last report of the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, finds a new report issued by the United Nations Environment Programme, entitled "Climate Change Science Compendium 2009."

Read this article to see what is happening and what can be done!

Two Meter Sea Level Rise Unstoppable

A rise of at least two meters in the world's sea levels is now almost unstoppable, experts told a climate conference at Oxford University.

"The crux of the sea level issue is that it starts very slowly but once it gets going it is practically unstoppable," said Stefan Rahmstorf, a scientist at Germany's Potsdam Institute and a widely recognized sea level expert.

This is a very sobering article and is a must read!

Read the article

Democracy Now! Interview of David Korten on the New Economy

Democracy Now! interviews David Korten about his new book "Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth".

"In his new book, Korten argues that the nation faces a monumental economic challenge that goes far beyond anything being discussed in Congress. He writes that now is an opportune moment to move forward an agenda to replace the failed money-serving institutions of our present economy with the institutions of a new economy dedicated to serving life."

Read/Listen to the interview. It is about 14 minutes in.

Great Pacific Garbage Patch to be Studied

The garbage patch, located 1000 miles west of California, is now estimated to be almost twice the size of Texas. It consists of discarded fishing lines, plastic bottles, and other garbage that has been collecting for decades. Now a group of scientists are setting sail to study it.

Read the article to find out more about it.

Capturing Carbon with Synthetic Trees

Watch the segment on Nova Science NOW that interviews Geophysicist Klaus Lackner about his synthetic tree made to take carbon out of the atmosphere which was inspired by his daughter's science project.

View the segment

Satellite survey reveals dramatic Arctic sea-ice thinning

Scientists have evaluated for the first time how much the thickness and volume of Arctic sea ice, not just the ice's surface area, have shrunk since 2004 across the Arctic Ocean basin.

Read the article.

Green Living and Green Technology Podcaster

While reading the San Jose Mercury News I came across an article written by Mike Cassidy about a local podcaster. Her name is Alison van Diggelen and she has interviewed a variety of people on the subject of green living and green technology. Her guests have included Silicon Valley tech execs, Maureen Dowd, Charlie Rose, Jack Welsh, and Martin Sheen.

Visit her website to hear these podcasts at www.freshdialogues.com.

America’s Sea of Red Ink Was Years in the Making

Read this article by New York Times columnist David Leonhardt about America's deficit and what went in to making it so big. Charlie Rose interviewed him about it on June 10th.

Read the article

Charlie Rose Interview

Buddhist Climate Project

Read the article about Tibet and China: Climate Crisis at the Earth's Third Pole. It talks about the glaciers melting and the impending water crisis that will hit Asian countries to produce a food shortage. The impact is enormous and is being caused by coal fired plants. It is imperative that we stop adding CO2 to the atmosphere if we are to survive.

Visit the Ecological Buddhism a Buddhist Response to Global Warming site.

Sign the Buddhist Declaration before the U.N. Climate Treaty Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Paul Ehrlich - Evolution of the Dominant Animal

Paul Ehrlich appeared at the Common Wealth Club in San Francisco to talk about climate change and the destruction of biodiversity. Great talk!

The audio file is a .ram so you will need Real Player or a player that knows how to play that format.

Listen to the talk.

Paul Ehrlich on the Fate of Biodiversity

This is a talk that Paul Erhlich, author of 'The Population Bomb', gave in September, 2008, at the University of British Columbia, where he covers climate change and biodiversity degradation. He and his wife, Anne, have recently put out a new book 'The Dominant Animal and the Fate of Biodiversity'.

This talk was aired by Radio Echoshock.

Listen to his talk.

New York City-sized Ice Collapses off Antarctica

Read this article that talks about the shattering into icebergs of an ice sheet the size of New York City that broke off the Wilkins Ice Shelf earlier this month. This is a sign that climate change is having a very dramatic effect on the world.

Read the article.

Poisoned Waters - Frontline Report

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Hedrick Smith examines the growing hazards to human health and the ecosystems of the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound due to polluted runoff from industry, agriculture and massive suburban development.

View the 2 hour Frontline special

No Return to Normal - Economic Crisis

Here is a great article by James K. Galbraith about the global economic crisis. Not only does he explain how current banking policy will not work but he provides solutions that will end up rebuilding this country and preserving it's assets of being a place of science and technology innovation.

Read the article: "Why the economic crisis, and its solution, are bigger than you think"

Charlie Rose Interview with Amory Lovins

This interview is from 2006 but is still very relevant with regard to energy alternatives and getting off oil completely.

View the interview

Nova Special: Extreme Ice

Photographer, James Balog, chronicles the melting arctic and Greenland glaciers. The rate of melting is much faster than expected. Large lakes disappearing in a matter of hours is captured on video as well as large ice sheets breaking off and floating out to sea.

There are a series of 6 videos totaling an hour of viewing time. Incredible footage!

Visit the site to watch the videos.

Thomas Friedman Article about Sustainable Growth in Costa Rica

Read Thomas Friedman's article about Costa Rica's model for sustainable growth. He visited on an eco tour and gives his insights.

Read the article

Annie Leonard guest spoke and showed "The Story of Stuff" at Foothill College

Annie Leonard is an expert in international sustainability and environmental health issues, with more than 20 years of experience investigating factories and dumps around the world. She spoke at Foothill College and showed her movie, the Story of Stuff, which shows how stuff is created and at what cost to the environment.

She also recommended some books and web sites:

"Exposed": Deregulating Chemicals by Mark Shapiro. Here is a link that talks about the book

Our Stolen Future written by three authors, Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski, and John Peterson Myers which chronicles the development of the endocrine disruptor hypothesis by Theo Colborn. Go here to visit their web site which continues to monitor and report on research related to endocrine disruptor.

Rules for Radicals written by Saul Alinsky. Go here to see a list of the rules.

Steady State Economy is a web site. The President, Brian Czech, of the site wrote an article on this.