If we don’t change our ways soon...

A new report by the Royal Society, chaired by Nobel prize-winning biologist Sir John Sulston warns that world population must be stabilized and consumption in wealthy nations must be reduced or the entire planet is in big trouble. As the report reads: “The number of people living on the planet has never been higher, their levels of consumption are unprecedented and vast changes are taking place in the environment. We can choose to rebalance the use of resources to a more egalitarian pattern of consumption… or we can choose to do nothing and to drift into a downward spiral of economic and environmental ills leading to a more unequal and inhospitable future.”
This is the same warning that President Jimmy Carter gave Americans back in the 1970’s – but it was ignored when Ronald Reagan came to power with a “more positive” message basically telling Americans we can do whatever we want. And then after 9/11 – Bush told us all we should go shopping and consume ever more.
And now with corporations calling the shots in Washington – long-term sustainability of the planet takes a back seat to short-term profits. If we don’t change our ways soon – and embrace clean, alternative energy and educate women around the plant – then we all could be headed for a rough century.
Comments


Thom? You just hung up on a man asking you why you NEVER allow one word of criticism of Obama, and you said you didn't know how he got through? That is progressive thinking?
Do you really not allow any caller who questions Obama? Really?

Okay, one more question. Why do you call those callers who do "get through" right wingers? I am far from a right winger, but I have every right to question the decisions coming from the man I voted for. Why do you silence us when we question Obama?

Yes, Obama killed OBL.And he did it with NO due process. The US tried the Nazi's Thom, why do you brag about this president ignoring due process? I am stymied by this total acceptance of this President who claims the right to disappear any US citizen without due process, and assassinate those he "is told" are a threat to the US? Why can't you discuss it? Why do you hang up on any of us who ask? I've been fighting the good fight for fifty years Thom, I'm not a novice at speaking to power, but my gawd, why do you accept assassinations of Americans by this POTUS?

I could not agree more, Oldcrone (great handle BTW). I remember listening to Randi Rhodes doing the same thing when the Democrats took control of Congress. One caller said he didn't have much faith in Democrats being assertive (my view also) and Randi called him a whiner instead of listening to him. She struck me as almost as bad as Bill O'Reilly.
I too expect more from Progressives and used to think very highly of THom. Not any more.

Thank gawd ! It's lonely out here. I"m accused of being a republican, in fact I'm so far to the left it's painful for most people around me. I admit it. But this party has become something I can't even recognize. I don't understand why "progressive" radio won't allow our voices to be heard. It must be policy not to allow dissent on their shows, why is that? Thank you John for responding, I was getting tired of talking to my old self. I should be used to it, but I sure appreciate knowing I'm not alone out here, even though it feels like it most of the time ! For my 60th birthday I had your logo tatted on my inner ankle ! I love it, I tell people it started on my knee and drifted down !

People who think the only beneficiary of an education is the student are either stupid or are making an extreme effort to miss the point.
When you put a kernel of corn in the ground, nurture it to maturity, and just look at the ear of corn and gripe about the corn taking all of the resources, you are in the same class as people who think that a college graduate is the only one who gains from an education.
A conclusion I take away is that some people just want to make a lot of money from our alleged "system" of education and horrifyingly inflated debt and profit. An honest broker will admit that.

OVER POPULATION is the root cause of all of human abuses. Why pay a person a decent wage when you have an endless source of people. The 'supply and demand' rule stands - Too many humans = too little worth. Why do you think they can wage ENDLESS WARS? Heck, they already have a surplus that's expendable. Ever consider just WHY they are trying to ban any type of pregnancy prevention devices?? They INCREASE HUMAN VALUE!

Your Welcome Oldcrone! I know that lonely feeling and I know that "talking to oneself" syndrome so well. I wouldn't worry about it though until you start getting answers coming back (OH THOSE VOICES!( (lol). The only person I have to talk to outside of the few on Facebook I have been able to find is my wife and she finds these things depressing too, so she usually cuts me off.
All media, especially progressive media, is controlled one way or another by the 1%. Air America was systematically shut down through buy-outs, inteference, or whatever means possible. It used to air here in Maine but was sold out and became yet another sports station. We really have very little choice.

I am especially disappointed in THom. He is brilliant and a storehouse of knowledge. Why he can't be more of a leader is beyond me. He certainly is not shy. I really thought Obama was going to continue his motivational charisma was going to continue into the Presidency. I started listening to his weekly talks but soon realized that he was holding back. I still hope that he has a few aces up his sleeve that he can pull out after he is reelected.
Thank you too "Oldcrone" for your communication. If you are on Facebook please look for me under the same name as here. Same logo too and BTW I think that was an awesome thing to do on your 60th birthday. Hope to stay in touch!

Well, to the actual POINT of Thom's post, my answer is "NO!" it's already too late if the decrease in sea ice at the Arctric is opening the Northwest Passage.
Once Siberia's permafrost starts melting, it will be just an endless, self-perpetuating carbon release. We won't be able to stop it, although I'm sure that something even worse will be tried.
I have to faith whatsoever in in patriarchal science which allows men to leap where angels would fear to tread. They have absolutely no respect for life and the Earth and they use their religion to justify everything.
My only hope for the future of this planet is that it really is the cahnging of the Ages from Pisces to Aquarius, the social sign. Perhaps the elites WILL find a habitable palent they can take their exlated selves off to and leave the rest of us to try a differnt way of living.
You can be sure, however, that they will suck every last drop of energy from Gaea before they go.
Idiots! They'll look long and hard before they find a jewel like this one in the gallaxy and tehy'll probably fight with each other to be alpha male on the way and kill each other off. Then, maybe the less agressive males and the women can form a society in the stars that make some sense, cause this one sure doesn't.
You can bet this is why the War on Women is gearing up. They know the population they can exploit iof going to srop off precipitiously here pretty soon and they want more peons to rob and enslave.
P: this really need s spell checker that works

NO !

As long as the conservative christians, who run this country, continue with their "God will provide" attitude, there is no hope of saving the planet or the human race. Since I have little time left on this planet, I say let them keep their heads buried in the sand, it makes it that much easier for reality to bite them in the ass!!! And it will, too.

OldCrone and John Lemessurier: You're sure not alone on this issue. I suspect there are quite a few people who consider themselves somewhere in the vicinity of Progressive Democrats who voted for Obama the first time but are totally pissed at what Obama has done..or what he hasn't done. Obama is ever much the war criminal that Bush was and is a very dangerous man...and so was Hitler.
Dare I compare him to Hitler? Hitler only had gas, ovens, and IBM tabulating cards to murder millions of innocent people. He didn't have the technology of drones, guided, aimed, and triggered by people that are sitting in comfort in locations in the US as if they were playing a computer game. He didn't have the massive computerized world-wide spy network to determine who would be wiped out. And so, since mass murder has become so easy and covert and done without the killers having to actually see, smell, and experience what they have done it is a trifle matter to them. And add to that a dose of psychological masturbation with Jesus as the pivot man crap that they now brainwash our soldiers with...it is so easy to do just what Hitler did and avoid all of the guilt and shame. And since the conquerors, most vicious, and most devious, write the history books...it may be a long time...like never...until these Sieg Heil Nazis will ever suffer the wrath that they so rightly deserve.
And as those armed drones are flying over the people in the Middle East, they will eventually be deployed right here in America in search of what a few Hitlerian wannabes deem as a "terrorist"...and as we know...that word is very loosely applied. Careful what you think or say...you, or I, could be next on their hit list.
Just wait for the day when the state will put life-time implants into new borns that will have multi-functions including: tracking his/her location and detecting any evil or anti-state thoughts which will terminate that life form where ever he/she is. They will, at first, justify the implants as a means of preventing kidnapping or some other reason. And, in order to get people sufficiently set-up and malleable into accepting this...they will have agents commit massive kidnappings and blame it on whatever group they want to defame at the moment...sell them to some rich Saudi Sheik. You know, create the false flag operation, like 911, that has worked so well at putting people off-guard and acceptable to things they would not otherwise accept.

IANACS*, but I've been studying the global warming issue from a layman's perspective for some time, including online discussions with actual climate scientists. The impression I get is that it's too late for us, partly because the denier movement has succeeded in slowing down our reaction to the problem, and partly because things are much, much worse and happening much, much faster than predicted. We basically have less than 5 years to stop the temperature rise from exceeding 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels. That not only means changing the minds of the deniers and interference-runners like Sen. Inhofe, but getting everyone else re-aligned to accomplishing that goal. Heck, even Obama doesn't mention the problem any more. The Republican debates were completely devoid of any climate change questions, and we know Mitt Romney will be a complete and utter Stepford-Wife tool of the corporatocracy. No, Thom, in my amateur but studied opinion, as you say, "we're screwed."
*I Am Not A Climate Scientist

Hind sight is always 20/20, but only matters when we apply what we have learned!
Countries uneasy, feeling betrayed. We the people are paying for the mistakes others have made. The time is comming for us to realize we must break out from these corrupt government ties. We must resist the urge for power. Who can you trust? Who is in control? History shows us that all governments do decline; from healthy ideas which in time are tread upon. Let us begin to learn from the mistakes of the past. Change our way of thinking so people and planet will last. We must resist the urge for power. Who can you trust ?Who is in control?

Brother Thom,
You speak the truth, despite all the posts here that attempt to obfuscate your message. I tell people who discuss the topic of global warming with me that the main driver of this phenomenon is the current ignorance of human beings of the nature of God's creation (the earth). Because we have lost an understanding of our home, we do things such as use fossil fuels to artificially inflate our population, believing that there will be no repercussions. However, we see these repercussions everywhere - starvation in areas that should be abundant in food, destruction of our sustaining ecosystems and more focus on contolling natural resources than ever before.
When I speak with people who are undecided about what the future brings I try to impress upon them the idea that resources are a zero sum game. I relay to them that we are at the point where any additional birth beyond replacing the original couple is a sentence for suffering and/or death for another child somewhere in the world. Sometimes that makes them stop and think and sometimes it doesn't - It is those in the latter category that trouble me as they appear to ba immune from facts. I think the only way to turn them around is to plop them down smack into any number of populations where people are fleeing their homes because of man-made disasters and have them be one of the "least of these" for once in their lives...
SisterAnnie

This is the real Obama scandal. It is a complete fabrication. The "raid" was a scam. There is much evidence that Osama bin Laden died in Dec. 2001.
Do you really believe that he could survive on dialysis after living in a cave for ten years? Do you believe the fake photos? Do you believe the official story that he was buried at sea? Where is the DNA? Where is the video of the "raid"?
When a reporter asked GW Bush if he knew where Osama was, he said he didn't care. Of course he didn't. He knew he was long dead.
Are you aware that one of the two Navy Seals helicopters exploded at the time it took off from the so-called Osama compound? Pakistanis reported seeing the explosion and dead bodies of the Seals. They claimed that Osama never lived in that house. They saw the "picture" of Osama watching television and said it was NOT Osama. It WAS the real owner.
With all due respect Thom, you are railing against Bush for torture, right? But you say not one word about Obama continue those programs, in fact expanding them. And Obama now claims the mantle that he can assassinate his own people. Which he has done. So how is it helpful to rail against an administration who has not had power for four years? Why isn't this administration held to account for furthering ALL of Bush'es programs, military, etc.
Please tell us why these programs have not been stopped when he had all three houses for two years, he did nothing but hire GE and Wall Street to sit at HIS table.