Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright in the Forest of the Night, But Not for Long; Ruminations on Zinn, Salinger, Obama, Pakistan & the Planet

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
The Tyger, William Blake

"There is a potential for tiger populations in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to become locally extinct by the next Year of the Tiger, in 2022, if we don't step up actions to protect them."Although Indochinese tigers were once found in abundance across the Greater Mekong region, the WWF says there are now no more than 30 tigers per country in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Mekong tiger population at crisis point: WWF, Agence France Press, 1-26-10

Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright in the Forest of the Night, But Not for Long; Ruminations on Zinn, Salinger, Obama, Pakistan & the Planet

By Richard Power

I don't read obituaries, or do eulogies. I don't attend memorials (unless inescapable). The circumstances of my life have led me to an intimate relationship with death and dying; and that intimate relationship has changed the way I relate to the mystery itself, as well as to the maudlin social conventions surrounding it. But that is a story for another time. I only mention it here in the contexts of my decision to highlight the same-day deaths of two contemporary legends, historian Howard Zinn and author J.D. Salinger. It is not their deaths that called forth this post, it is a rumination that I entered into while contemplating their deaths.

Of course, the demise of two worthy contributors to this increasingly unworthy kulchur offers yet another opportunity to highlight the embarrassing state of our national stream of consciousness.

National Public Radio (NPR) lost its juju long ago, but it produced a unpleasant reminder of it in how it dealt with the passing of the great Howard Zinn:

After quoting Noam Chomsky and Julian Bond, NPR's Allison Keyes turned to far-right activist David Horowitz to symbolically spit on Zinn's grave. "There is absolutely nothing in Howard Zinn's intellectual output that is worthy of any kind of respect," Horowitz declared. "Zinn represents a fringe mentality which has unfortunately seduced millions of people at this point in time. So he did certainly alter the consciousness of millions of younger people for the worse." ... Needless to say, it is not the case that NPR has a consistent principle that all its obituaries be thus "balanced." Take its coverage of the death of William F. Buckley, a figure as admired by the right as much as Zinn was on the left. Upon his death in February 2008, NPR aired six segments commemorating him, none of which included a non-admiring guest. NPR Finds Right-Wing Crank to Spit on Howard Zinn's Grave

And although Google gurgled with pieces on the death of J.D. Salinger, perhaps only The Onion truly understood the epiphany of his passing from the inside out:

In this big dramatic production that didn't do anyone any good (and was pretty embarrassing, really, if you think about it), thousands upon thousands of phonies across the country mourned the death of author J.D. Salinger, who was 91 years old for crying out loud. "He had a real impact on the literary world and on millions of readers," said hot-shot English professor David Clarke, who is just like the rest of them, and even works at one of those crumby schools that rich people send their kids to so they don't have to look at them for four years. "There will never be another voice like his." Which is exactly the lousy kind of goddamn thing that people say, because really it could mean lots of things, or nothing at all even, and it's just a perfect example of why you should never tell anybody anything. Bunch Of Phonies Mourn J.D. Salinger

Some philosophical questions occurred to me as I contemplated these two particular deaths.

What if our cultures are like our physical bodies, and run on some kind of internal clock, which will inevitably come to a full stop within a biologically pre-set range of years, or, in the case of our cultures, a range of generations, no matter what you try to do to forestall it? Or what if our cultures are like the soil of our farms and gardens, and have to be nourished and rested, and cultivated with care, lest they be exhausted and depleted and turned barren from excess and unknowing? What if our cultures have a pre-determined depth of intelligence, which once spent is spent? Or what if our cultures have to be tended to wisely lest the rich soil of intelligence dry up and turn into the dust of a wasteland?

Zinn's audacious People's History of the United States was a tremendous accomplishment, so was Salinger's haunting Nine Stories.

It is disturbing that our culture only allowed for one Howard Zinn.

Mr. Zinn was often taken to task for peeling back the rosy veneer of much of American history to reveal sordid realities that had remained hidden for too long. When writing about Andrew Jackson in his most famous book, “A People’s History of the United States,” published in 1980, Mr. Zinn said: “If you look through high school textbooks and elementary school textbooks in American history, you will find Jackson the frontiersman, soldier, democrat, man of the people — not Jackson the slaveholder, land speculator, executioner of dissident soldiers, exterminator of Indians.” Bob Herbert, New York Times, 1-30-10

It is also disturbing that a writer of J.D. Salinger's power could be so alienated from his culture that he felt that there was no place in it for him.

In a rare interview with the New York Times in 1974, he said there was "marvelous peace" in not publishing. "It's peaceful. Still. Publishing is a terrible invasion of my privacy. I like to write. I love to write. But I write just for myself and my own pleasure," he said. Reclusive author J.D. Salinger dies at 91

Are we close to the end of this experiment called the U.S.A.? I hope not.

But the facts on the ground in our psyche are not encouraging.

Consider this Pew Research study:

Dealing with global warming ranks at the bottom of the public’s list of priorities; just 28% consider this a top priority, the lowest measure for any issue tested in the survey. Since 2007, when the item was first included on the priorities list, dealing with global warming has consistently ranked at or near the bottom. Even so, the percentage that now says addressing global warming should be a top priority has fallen 10 points from 2007, when 38% considered it a top priority. Such a low ranking is driven in part by indifference among Republicans: just 11% consider global warming a top priority, compared with 43% of Democrats and 25% of independents. Pew Research, Public's Priorities for 2010: Economy, Jobs, Terrorism, 1-25-10

Why is it that Antonio Hill, Climate Advisor for Oxfam International understands, but those who determine (and frame) the content of your TV news programs?

“World leaders are set to fail their first test on whether they meant what they said in Copenhagen. They recognized that temperatures should be kept from rising above the two degree danger level but are still talking about emissions cuts that will create a near four degree world crippled by drought.” Oxfam, Four Billion People Threatened by Water Shortages if World Leaders Stumble at 2010’s First Climate Change Hurdle, 1-29-10

"Strengthening the economy" was ranked #1 in the Pew study.

And yet, unless we move decisively toward a new economic model, the renewed strength of this economy will only serve to strangle ourselves with our own intestines.

Continuing global economic growth "is not possible" if nations are to tackle climate change, a report by an environmental think-tank has warned ... The New Economics Foundation (NEF) said "unprecedented and probably impossible" carbon reductions would be needed to hold temperature rises below 2C (3.6F) ... "We urgently need to change our economy to live within its environmental budget," said NEF's policy director. Andrew Simms added: "There is no global, environmental central bank to bail us out if we become ecologically bankrupt."
None of the existing models or policies could "square the circle" of economic growth with climate safety, NEF added. Economic Growth 'Cannot Continue,' BBC, 1-27-10

"Defending the US against terrorism" was ranked #3 in the Pew study.

But how many of the people responding to the poll understand anything of any significance about this "Defending the US against terrorism"? How many of them known that Bin Laden rose up from the world of the Saudi princes (whose oil we guard with our blood and treasure), was launched into his violent career by our own government, and now hides in Pakistan (if indeed he is alive), under the protection of elements within the Pakistani intelligence service (an entity which is supposedly aiding us in the search for him)?

Madness, madness underwritten by greed and sanctioned in ignorance.

Here are the facts on the ground in nuclear-tipped Pakistan:

The level of growing gap between rich and poor is becoming so sharp and it the general, ordinary people of Pakistan, it is now difficult for an average person to educate his children or to have any medical help or have a decent or dignified live. This issue is being, I think, captured in the name of religion of Taliban. Pakistan’s Wealth Divide and Rising Militancy, Democracy Now!, 1-29-10

Is our nation choking on its own ignorance of itself and the world we inhabit?

Consider President Obama's first SOTO and his follow up appearance at the House caucus retreat of the cult formerly known as the Republican Party.

In his SOTU speech to the Congress, the Supreme Court, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Cabinet and "We, the People," Obama held up that mirror to the nation, and in it our national dysfunction was revealed in its fullness.

There was a sickly pallor over SCOTUS. The Joint Chiefs looked troubled. The elected representatives of the cult formerly known as the Republican Party sat in bitter alienation from not from their political rivals, but from reality itself.

But the most disturbing element of this tableaux vivants was something that could not be seen with the physical eye, i.e., the invisible hands of the puppet masters: the banksters, the insurance industry racketeers, the lords of oil and coal, and the rest of those that pull too many strings on both sides of the aisle. They were nowhere to be seen, but their undue influence was everywhere, pervading that space.

Two days later, Obama took to the bully pulpit once again, to hold up that mirror to the cult formerly known as the Republican Party again, at its House caucus retreat, and attempt to engage its members in an open dialogue.

At this point, like many other progressives, I disagree with most of the White House's political strategy, and much of its policy-making, but I certainly acknowledge this President's extraordinary capacity to illuminate what is going on simply by being present.

Consider these four headlines from Think Progress --

Fox Cuts Away From Obama-GOP Conversation In Order To Get A Head Start On Attacks: He Was ‘Lecturing’

Republicans dismayed by Obama’s strong performance, say it was a ‘mistake’ to let cameras roll.

Obama Reprimands GOP: Stop Saying ‘This Guy’s Doing All Kinds Of Crazy Stuff…To Destroy America’

Obama calls out GOP hypocrisy for going to ‘ribbon cuttings for the same projects that you voted against.’

What will become of us?

Almost all of the sands in the hour glass have fallen to the bottom. And yet so many among us are flailing in such deep ignorance, and they are dragging the whole down with them.

"Tyger, tyger burning bright ..."

Will your fearful symmetry disappear, subsumed in the disappearance of the "forest of the night" itself?

Will we follow you into oblivion?

Will we even notice if we don't?

See also "A Year After Grant Park: Somewhere Between Cannery Row & Desolation Row, Standing at a Bus Stop on a Street with No Name."

Support Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) and his six bills to Save Democracy.

Stand with Howard Dean on the struggle to deliver meaningful healthcare reform.

For the Words of Power Climate Crisis Updates Archive, click here.

Have you met Al Gore at the Wall yet?

I encourage you to find out why 350 is the most important number in your life and the lives of everyone you love: go to 350.org or Google "Bill McKibben" for the answer.

Richard Power's True North on the Pathless Path: Toward 21st Century Spirituality is available from Amazon.com

Richard Power's Left-Handed Security: Overcoming Fear, Greed & Ignorance in This Era of Global Crisis is available from Lulu.com.

Al Gore, J.D. Salinger, Howard Zinn, Climate Crisis, Barack obama, 350, SOTU, Endangered Species, Sustainability, F.A.I.R.

Hard Rain Late Night: Thelonious Monk Quartet - Evidence (Japan 1963)

Hard Rain Late Night: Thelonious Monk Quartet - Evidence (Japan 1963)



Click here for Hard Rain Late Night Music Video -- Archive

Thelonious Monk, Late Night, Music, Richard Power

In Citizens United v. FEC, SCOTUS Finished the Wet Work It Started in Bush v. Gore: Turning Beltwayistan Over to Predators in Perpetuity

Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here

Right now, you can prostitute all of the politicians some of the time, and prostitute some of the politicians all the time, but you cannot prostitute all the politicians all the time. Thanks to Chief Justice Roberts this will change. Unless this mortal blow is somehow undone, within ten years, every politician in this country will be a prostitute.
And now let's contemplate what that perfectly symmetrical, money-driven world might look like. Be prepared, first, for laws criminalizing or at least neutering unions. In today's Court Decision, they are the weaker of the non-human sisters unfettered by the Court. So, like in ancient Rome or medieval England, they will necessarily be strangled by the stronger sibling, the corporations, so they pose no further threat to the Corporations' total control of our political system.
Be prepared, then, for the reduction of taxes for the wealth, and for the corporations, and the elimination of the social safety nets for everybody else, because money spent on the poor means less money left for the corporations.
Be prepared, then, for wars sold as the "new products" which Andy Card once described them as, year-after-year, as if they were new Fox Reality Shows, because Military Industrial Complex Corporations are still corporations. Be prepared, then, for the ban on same-sex marriage, on abortion, on evolution, on separation of church and state. The most politically agitated group of citizens left are the evangelicals, throw them some red meat to feed their holier-than-thou rationalizations, and they won't care what else you do to this corporate nation. Keith Olbermann, Special Comment, MSNBC Countdown, 1-21-10

Migrant Mother/Pea-Picker in the Dust Bowl, Photo by Dorothea Lange, 1936


In Citizens United v. FEC, SCOTUS Finished the Wet Work It Started in Bush v. Gore: Turning Beltwayistan Over to Predators in Perpetuity

By Richard Power

There is much to say, and yet, there is nothing to say.

Monday, 1-18-10, was Martin Luther King Day in the USA.

On that day, I felt grateful that for the first 15 years of my life, MLK, Jr. & I walked the same Earth; grateful that, as a kid, I wept with joy when I heard his speeches on my radio; grateful that I understood the profound significance of his murder on the night it occurred; grateful that his message has only ripened in my life ever since; grateful that I don't just remember him once a year; grateful that for however long I can journey the path of love in this life.

The rest of the week was a reminder that just as the dream has not died, neither has the nightmare.

In many ways, what happened three days later, on 1-21-10, is the culmination of a coup that began in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election; and should be framed as such if its true significance and genuine origins are to be understood in proper context. And therefore, in many ways, this post is the culmination of my many posts first via Liberation News Service, from 2000 to 2005, and via Words of Power, from 2005 until today.

This has never been about what to do, it has always been about who we are.

Consider the strange odysseys of two individuals: Vincent Bugliosi and the shell of a man formerly known as Ralph Nader.

Bugliosi was right, in 2000, when he called for the impeachment of the five Supreme Court justices who installed Bush as the first _resident of the USA; just as he is right now in calling for the prosecution of Bush for the murder of those US soldiers he sent to die in a war predicated on lies.

The shell of a man formerly known as Ralph Nader was wrong in 2000, when he said there was no difference between Bush and Gore. He uttered this lie repeatedly throughout the campaign, and yes, he uttered it on that last weekend before the election, as he campaigned in Florida, where the 97,421 votes he received could have canceled out the 27,000 votes THROWN AWAY in Duval County, and helped to thwart the concocted "closeness" of the results, which was the rationale used for turning to the courts. Of course, to this day, his apologists say he was not to blame for what transpired. He is not the cause, but he is complicit by his actions and his demagoguery. And those who insist otherwise are lying to themselves.

Make no mistake about it, if reich-wing ideologues Rehnquist, Scalia and their swinging door, Clarence Thomas, (all appointed by Reagan and Poppy Bush) had not been on SCOTUS, Bush v. Gore would not have come down the way it did; and furthermore, if reich-wing ideologues Roberts and Alito (appointed by the _resident George W. Bush) had not been on the court today, Citizens United v. FEC would not have come down the way it did.

As craven as much of the leadership of the Democratic Party has become, there is a difference, even today, and those who deny that difference are culpable in all that has happened to us. Of course, in the weeks, months and years ahead, there will likely be no difference at all -- because of Citizens United v. FEC.

As Larisa Alexandrovna points out, in SCOTUS ruling = Powell Memo goal = Fall of democracy..., the decision is not only an abomination in its own right, it is also the achievement of a goal set forth in the Powell Memo.

Now it is not a question of what we must do, but who we are. And the preliminary results on who we are do not bode well.

On Tuesday, 1-19-10, two days before the incredible obscenity of Citizens United v. FEC, the people of Massachusetts gave away the the U.S. Senate seat held for decades first by John F. Kennedy, and then by his youngest brother, Teddy Kennedy, and with it, the illusory sixtieth vote (which we never really had) needed to break filibusters.

As much as I would prefer to blame it on Diebold, in this instance, it seems apparent that the people of Massachusetts elected a zombie who posed nude for Cosmo in 1982, ran a campaign framed around driving a truck as if it were some existential truth, and in his victory speech, jokingly offered up his daughters as if they were prize heifers at auction.

Here are a few glimpses into Brown's soulessness that the US mainstream news media did not spend much (any?) time on:

Will Scott Brown Stick By Birther Candidate Who Compared Obama To Osama Bin Laden?

Brown victory party featured flag calling for a ‘second’ revolution, tea party-inspired civil war.

Red Cross financial aid Scott Brown voted to kill now assisting Massachusetts relief efforts in Haiti.

Brown stands by supporting a tax-subsidized golf course over 9/11 rescue workers.

Who are we as a people?

Taken together, the naked greed that has overtaken Beltwayistan, and the willful ignorance with which the populace beyond Beltwayistan has allowed itself to be infected through the corporatist media, constitute crimes against humanity and nature.

The already long odds that U.S. President Barack Obama would win passage of significant climate change legislation soon are getting longer.
Obama has been weakened by the loss Tuesday of a Senate seat held by Democrats for more than a half-century. Even before the vote, he was struggling to persuade some fellow Democrats to make climate change legislation a priority. That will be even harder after Tuesday's vote, which has made Democratic lawmakers more hesitant to follow the president's lead. Political setbacks for Obama dims prospects in Congress for US climate change bill, Canadian Press, 1-23-10

Who are we as a people?

There were helicopters in Haiti within 48 hours of the catastrophic earthquake that hit last week, that's good; but there are still no helicopters in Darfur, to protect peacekeepers and girls gathering firewoods - despite years of pleading ... Why the double-standard? Three hundred thousand (at least) died in the Darfur genocide. It is likely two hundred thousand will have died in Haiti. I am not minimizing one catastrophe in comparison with another; just pointing out that the collective will (or lack of it) in the part of the great nations is often directed by a hidden (and ugly) geopolitical agenda. Shame.

There is a revisionist view circulating now that the "worse is over in Darfur," that is at best wishful thinking. The truth is, in Darfur, as well as in the USA, "The worst is past! The worst is yet to come!"

Indeed, the regime seems poised to reap the benefits from an electoral “victory” in the hopelessly compromised national elections that will take place in April. This is a truth evidently too unpalatable for many of those claiming to support Sudan’s aspirations. Instead, unbounded cowardice and expediency continue to define the world’s response to Sudan’s agony. Erik Reeves, Civilians at Risk: Human Security and Humanitarian Aid in Darfur, sudanreeves.org, 1-17-10

To prevent a full scale war from erupting in Sudan in the coming year, [Obama's] Deputies should recommend to their superiors and President Obama a course of action marked by much deeper diplomatic engagement, backed by more assiduous efforts to build a multilateral coalition of counties willing to impose consequences on those undermining the path to peace in Sudan. Jon Prendergast, Truth and Consequences for Sudan Now: An Open Letter to President Obama's Deputies, Enough, 1-20-10

Just to finish off the week, Air America went into Chapter 7 bankruptcy at last.

Now most of the strongest voices in progressive talk radio, the powerhouses, Thom Hartmann, Randi Rhodes, Stephanie Miller, etc., where free and clear of Air America when it fell; but the loss of Air America's internet stream is a blow.

Does it mean the loss of the dauntless Jack Rice, the delightful Nicole Sadler and the indefatigable Ring of Fire with RFK, Jr. and Mike Papantonio,(which was the progressive equivalent to 60 Minutes).

Beyond progressive radio, what do we have to counteract the willful ignorance being disseminated throughout the mainstream news media?

Three hours on MSNBC (Schultz, Maddow, Olbermann), but how long will they last after Citizens United v. FEC?

Then there is one hour a day of Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman, Monday through Friday.

And then beyond that, nothing much.

Alternative progressive media is decentralized, which is good, but it is nevertheless vulnerable and underfunded. Furthermore, where do we turn to hear the voices of progressive truth? We turn to the Internet. Wherever you are, 24x7, you can hear progressive truth via the Internet -- at least as of today. But after Citizens United v. FEC, how long do you think the resolve on Net Neutrality will be sustained?

So here we are, it has come to this ...

Who are you? Who are you really?

Answer that question, and you will know what to do.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Support Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) and his six bills to Save Democracy.

Stand with Howard Dean on the struggle to deliver meaningful healthcare reform.

For the Words of Power Climate Crisis Updates Archive, click here.

Have you met Al Gore at the Wall yet?

I encourage you to find out why 350 is the most important number in your life and the lives of everyone you love: go to 350.org or Google "Bill McKibben" for the answer.

As always, I encourage you to follow events in Darfur on Mia Farrow's site, it is the real-time journal of a humanitarian at work; the content is compelling, insightful and fiercely independent.

For an archive of Words of Power posts on the Crisis in Darfur, click here.

True North on the Pathless Path: Toward 21st Century Spirituality is available from Amazon.com

Left-Handed Security: Overcoming Fear, Greed & Ignorance in This Era of Global Crisis is available from Lulu.com.

Al Gore, Keith Olbermann, Darfur, Climate Crisis, Jon Prendergast, 350, SCOTUS, Citizens United, Air America, Vincent Buglioso

Haiti & the Doomsday Clock Offer Some Post-Copenhagen Context: Time to Come On Hard & Fast in the Planetary Climate Crisis

Earth at Night 2001, NASA


The Climate Killers: Meet the 17 polluters and deniers who are derailing efforts to curb global warming ... Tim Dickinson, The Climate Killers, Rolling Stone, 1-6-10



A new guerrilla green operation has begun. Polluter Watch, the brainchild of the advocacy group Greenpeace, is taking direct aim at major corporations who emit greenhouse gases and other pollutants. They're not just going after the companies themselves, but their hired guns and allies. Juliet Eilperin, Climategate: East Anglia aftermath, and beyond, Post Carbon, 1-8-10



Time is of the essence. While the world dawdles, green house gases are building up in the atmosphere, and the likelihood that the world will meet even the agreed-upon target of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius is diminishing. We have given the Kyoto approach, based on emission rights, more than a fair chance. Given the fundamental problems underlying it, Copenhagen’s failure should not be a surprise. At the very least, it is worth giving the alternative a chance. Joseph Stiglitz, Capital Times, 1-8-10

[Worldwatch president Christopher Flavin] admits consumerism is not the only factor driving environmental degradation but says it is one of the key root causes on which other factors are built – and, as a cultural framework, it is expanding. "In India and China, for instance, the consumer culture of the U.S. and Western Europe is not only being replicated but being replicated on a much vaster scale," Flavin says. Matthew Berger, Seeking a Cultural Revolution: From Consumerism to Sustainability, Inter Press Service, 1-13-10

Haiti & the Doomsday Clock Offer Some Post-Copenhagen Context: Time to Come On Hard & Fast in the Planetary Climate Crisis

Richard Power

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has moved the Doomsday Clock back from five to six minutes to midnight.

We are poised to bend the arc of history toward a world free of nuclear weapons. For the first time since atomic bombs were dropped in 1945, leaders of nuclear weapons states are cooperating to vastly reduce their arsenals and secure all nuclear bomb-making material. And for the first time ever, industrialized and developing countries alike are pledging to limit climate-changing gas emissions that could render our planet nearly uninhabitable. These unprecedented steps are signs of a growing political will to tackle the two gravest threats to civilization--the terror of nuclear weapons and runaway climate change. It is Six Minutes to Midnight, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, 1-14-10

Surprised? Yes, there is an oh so fragile reed of hope. And like a good parent, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists is trying to encourage humanity to cultivate that oh so fragile reed of hope. (You can be certain that if the USA had chosen madness over reason in the 2008 elections, the clock would not have moved back.)

Do not misinterpret this moment. From where we are now, there is great potential for the hands of the clock to swing one way or the other -- rapidly. Think of each minute on the clock as 15 years; and ponder this, we are only six minutes from midnight. We have been moving inexorably toward the end; now for the first time, we have regained one minute, and that means there is an opportunity to turn it all around.

Meanwhile, this nation's attention (limited as it is) is focused elsewhere.

The suffering of Haiti was already almost beyond comprehension -- before the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that just devastated the devastated.

Beyond what this catastrophe means to the Haitians (again, almost beyond comprehension), there are two critical lessons for the rest of us. One, for me, is best articulated in a maxim that I stress in risk and intelligence briefings: "Anywhere, anytime." The other is also a maxim of warning, "Ignore the scientists at your own peril."

Five scientists presented a paper during the 18th Caribbean Geological Conference in March 2008 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, stating that a fault zone on the south side of the island posed "a major seismic hazard." Tuesday's potentially disastrous 7.0 earthquake occurred in Haiti along the same fault line, known as the Enriquillo-Plaintain Garden fault zone. Brandon Griggs, CNN, 1-13-10

In regard to the Climate Crisis, a threat on the planetary scale, the scientists are being ignored again; not only by those who chose to live in denial, whether for profit or pathology, but even by those political leaders who accept the reality, but cannot face responsibility for the drastic actions that must be taken.

So where does the human race stand in the aftermath of the collective failure of the planet's political leadership in Copenhagen?

There isn't much time left. Indeed, many experts, off the record, confess that they believe it is already too late. Well, it is certainly "too late" to avoid climate change; the destructive process is already well underway. But it is still not "too late" to mitigate the worst of what could befall us; although it is close and the window is closing very rapidly, and the grim political and geopolitical realities make even significant mitigation increasingly unlikely. Nor is it "too late" to dedicate ourselves to adaptation; and candidly speaking, adaptation may be the most meaningful way left to us to impact coming events.

Therefore, if you understand the Climate Crisis for what it is, i.e., the human race's most profound challenge and as well as its greatest opportunity, I urge you to come on hard and fast in the coming weeks and months.

There are three fronts in this all-consuming struggle, as a citizen, as an individual and as an incarnated spirit. Each of these fronts calls on us in different ways.

As citizens, it is vital to ratchet up our own efforts to raise consciousness and enlighten those so terribly disinformed by the US mainstream news media, the political establishment, and the corporate interests that control them both.

As individuals, it is vital to prepare ourselves and our loved ones as best we can; this means thinking through what is possible, i.e., crisis management for you and your circle, including, in particular, mobility (e.g., how to work and live on the move), and food and water security (e.g, what you can grow, what you can stock, etc.) for you and your circle. Do you understand the potential for extreme weather in your region? Are you in drought country or ice age country? Are you in mega-wildfire country or hurricane country? Do you understand how the coming population displacements will impact you? Will you likely be among the displaced or among those engulfed by the displaced? You cannot know anything for certain, but you can use common sense, and intuition, and develop your own contingencies.

And as an incarnated spirit, it is vital to deepen your relationship with the intimate infinite, whatever name you chose to give it; it is a journey best undertaken by quieting the mind and opening the heart, however you choose to accomplish those effects. This intimate infinite is that which reaches from the still small voice within you to the tips of the highest leaves in the rain forest canopies, and back again. It is, as the Diamond Sutra promises, "all together everywhere."

I will address all of three of these fronts in the weeks and months ahead, but for now let me focus on what each of us as citizens should know.

First, it is time to come on fast and hard -- against those who are willfully misleading and disinforming the public. It is time to name names, and press for consequences (political, societal, economic) for those who stand in the way of the rescue of the humanity and other species threatened by the Climate Crisis.

Consider Polluterwatch.

A new guerrilla green operation has begun. PolluterWatch, the brainchild of the advocacy group Greenpeace, is taking direct aim at major corporations who emit greenhouse gases and other pollutants. They're not just going after the companies themselves, but their hired guns and allies. (In the words of Greenpeace U.S. research director Kert Davies, those would be "their hired propagandists and influence peddlers.")... "If successful, we will reveal how the corrupting influence of polluter lobbyists and the politicians they have in their pockets continues to handcuff the US government on climate and energy policy," he said. "The legacy of denial and delay caused by these actors will never be undone, but we can weaken their grip moving forward." Juliet Eilperin, Climategate: East Anglia aftermath, and beyond, Post Carbon, 1-8-10

Familiarize yourself with Rolling Stone's compelling list of 17 prominent "Climate Killers," and popularize these back stories.'

Meet the 17 polluters and deniers who are derailing efforts to curb global warming
The Profiteer: Warren Buffett, CEO, Berskhire Hathaway
The Dinsinformer: Rupert Murdoch, CEO, News Corp.
The Fake Protestor: Jack Gerard, President, American Petroleum
Burning Man: Rex Tillerson, CEO, ExxonMobil
The Dirty Democrat: Sen. Mary Landrieu, Democrat, Louisiana
The Drudge of Denial: Marc Morano, Founder, Climate Depot
God's Denier; Sen. James Inhofe, Republican, Oklahoma
The Power Player: David Ratcliffe, CEO, Southern Company
The Arm Twister: Dick Gephardt, CEO, Gephardt Group
The Pundit: George Will, Commentator, ABC
The Know Nothing: Tom Donohue, President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
The Coal Baron: Don Blankenship, CEO, Massey Energy
The Hack Scientist: Fred Singer, Retired physicist, University of Virginia
The Flip Flopper: Sen. John McCain, Republican, Arizona
The Inquisitor: Rep. Joe Barton, Republican, Texas
The Tea Partiers: Charles and David Koch, CEO and Executive Vice President, Koch Industries Tim Dickinson, The Climate Killers, Rolling Stone, 1-6-10

Second, as Nobel Prize winning economist Joe Stiglitz suggests, it is time to consider the only viable alternative to the cap and trade path that led to failure in Copenhagen.

Even the commitment of the accord to provide amounts approaching $30 billion for the period 2010-12 for adaptation and mitigation appears paltry next to the hundreds of billions of dollars that have been doled out to the banks in the bailouts of 2008-09. If we can afford that much to save banks, we can afford something more to save the planet ...
Perhaps it is time to try another approach: a commitment by each country to raise the price of emissions (whether through a carbon tax or emissions caps) to an agreed level, say, $80 per ton. Countries could use the revenues as an alternative to other taxes -- it makes much more sense to tax bad things than good things ...
We have seen that goodwill alone can get us only so far. We must now conjoin self-interest with good intentions, especially because leaders in some countries (particularly the United States) seem afraid of competition from emerging markets even without any advantage they might receive from not having to pay for carbon emissions. A system of border taxes -- imposed on imports from countries where firms do not have to pay appropriately for carbon emissions -- would level the playing field and provide economic and political incentives for countries to adopt a carbon tax or emission caps. That, in turn, would provide economic incentives for firms to reduce their emissions. Joseph Stiglitz, Capital Times, 1-8-10

Third, each of us has the opportunity to confront the culture of consumerism in our own way, and to live as an example of the alternative culture of sustainability.

The last 50 years have seen an unprecedented and unsustainable spike in consumption, driven by a culture of consumerism that has emerged over that period, says a report released Tuesday by the Worldwatch Institute ... "State of the World 2010", subtitled "Transforming Cultures: From Consumerism to Sustainability", tries to chart a path away from what Worldwatch president Christopher Flavin calls "the consumer culture that has taken hold probably first in the U.S. and now in country after country over the past century, so that we can now talk about a global consumerist culture that has become a powerful force around the world." ... Flavin admits consumerism is not the only factor driving environmental degradation but says it is one of the key root causes on which other factors are built – and, as a cultural framework, it is expanding. "In India and China, for instance, the consumer culture of the U.S. and Western Europe is not only being replicated but being replicated on a much vaster scale," Flavin says. Matthew Berger, Seeking a Cultural Revolution: From Consumerism to Sustainability, Inter Press Service, 1-13-10

For the Words of Power Climate Crisis Updates Archive, click here.

Have you met Al Gore at the Wall yet?

I encourage you to find out why 350 is the most important number in your life and the lives of everyone you love: go to 350.org or Google "Bill McKibben" for the answer.

True North on the Pathless Path: Toward 21st Century Spirituality is available from Amazon.com

Left-Handed Security: Overcoming Fear, Greed & Ignorance in This Era of Global Crisis is available from Lulu.com.

Al Gore, Joseph Stiglitz, PolluterWatch, Climate Crisis, Worldwatch Institute, 350

Hard Rain Late Night: Buddha Bar IX - Eccodek - Mongolia on the Line

Hard Rain Late Night: Buddha Bar IX - Eccodek - Mongolia on the Line



Click here for Hard Rain Late Night Music Video -- Archive

Buddha Bar, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power

Magic Ingredients for Peace & Progress: End Violence Against Women; Strengthen & Expand Women's Reproductive Rights

Nicole Kidman, GQ, 12/09


So while the actual “ground- breaking” takes place in this historic place in San Francisco, the virtual “ground- breaking” will be seen in Rwanda, Ecuador, East Timor, Bulgaria, or China. And by reaching out beyond our borders we acknowledge that violence against women is a pandemic that respects no geographical boundary, no race or class. How could it be otherwise when one in three women will be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime? When survivors endure stigma and perpetrators routinely walk free? Nicole Kidman, UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador, Ceremony for the International Centre to End Violence, 1-8-10

In the Global Fund's own experience, when girls and women have greater access to education - not just the 3 R's: reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic, but also the 3 C's: courage, contraception, and choice - their improved health leads to positive community outcomes including economic growth and sustainable development. We agree with columnist Ellen Goodman: "if we can lighten the burden on the planet while widening the chances for women," that's our kind of offset. And, at least on the issues of women's reproductive rights, this is proving to be our kind of State Department. Kavita N. Ramdas, Why Women's Reproductive Freedom Ensures Our Survival, IPS, 1-8-10

Magic Ingredients for Peace & Progress: End Violence Against Women; Strengthen & Expand Women's Reproductive Rights

By Richard Power

Personally, my writings on human rights and sustainability were initially centered on two issues: first, the plight of child soldiers and the victims of child abuse, because of what I understood from my own severe childhood traumas; and second, with the threat of global warming, both because of what I analyzed as its potential impact on the global threat matrix as a whole, and because of nature's intense and integral role in my own shamanic journey.

But soon, as I delved deeper, the direct and profound impact of women's rights on children's rights became clear to me, as did the direct and profound impact of human rights on sustainability, as well as the direct and profound impact of both human rights and sustainability on national and global security.

Through her work with the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Nicole Kidman invests her stardom in the struggle to empower women in the 21st Century, with a particular focus on ending violence against women. As one of several recurring story-lines, Words of Power follows Kidman's work with UNIFEM.

In my view, celebrity activism, such as Kidman's (and George Clooney's, and Angelina Jolie's) is vital to raising awareness in this dysfunctional kulchur; although, of course, I acknowledge that it is an object of derision by cynics at both ends of the ideological spectrum. Never has the usefulness of stardom been more evident. Consider that at this time of great national crisis (economic, environmental and security-related), the season premiere of a TV drama has forced the rescheduling of the SOTU from POTUS.

Just as there is magic in stardom, there is also magic in place; and San Francisco is a sacred place. After all, in 1945, the United Nations was founded in San Francisco. And, as one of our most powerful modern myths promises, sometime in the 2150s, at the end of the Earth-Romulan War (or some equivalent thereoof), the Council of the United Federation of Planets will have its home in the Presidio.

Indeed, critical mass is gathering there. The Presidio is already the home of a cluster of worthy organizations, such as the Gorbachev Foundation

On 1-8-10, the magic of stardom and the sacredness of place came together in ceremony for the groundbreaking of the International Centre to End Violence to be established in, yes, the Presidio.

Meanwhile, across the USA, in Beltwayistan, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was delivering a keynote address, marking the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (1994)

And just as U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis had done earlier in the day, with her announcement of a $500 million Recovery Act to promote economic growth by preparing workers for careers in the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries (including $100 million for 24 green jobs training projects), Clinton was not only doing a significant good in this vital area of public policy; she was, by extension, offering progressives a powerful example of how much difference there really is between the leadership of the Democratic Party (however compromised) and the leadership of the Cult-formerly-known-as-the-Republican-Party. Such reminders are of great importance, as we try to wrap our minds around the Democratic Party establishment's complicity with Wall Street banksters and health insurance racketeers.

On the same day as the groundbreaking ceremony in the Presidio and Clinton's Beltwayistan speech re-affirming the USA's commitment to the Cairo agreement, Kavita N. Ramdas, President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women (the world's largest women's foundation dedicated to advancing the rights of women) published an important Op-Ed:

Fifteen years ago in Beijing, then first lady, Hillary Clinton, stated firmly, "Women's rights are human rights." Today, after eight years of non-existent U.S. support for women's reproductive rights, Secretary of State Clinton is reviving women's hopes around the globe by affirming the Obama Administration's support for the International Conference on Population and Development Action Plan.
This historic agreement, signed by 180 nations in Cairo in 1994, outlined a visionary 20-year strategy for making family planning universally available by 2015. The Cairo declaration saw women's human rights take a quantum leap forward ...
Secretary Clinton's speech comes on the heels of a dismal global conversation on climate change that made it all too clear that we must find ways to effectively offset carbon emissions. Population growth and climate change will collide in ways that will put all our lives at risk and will most grievously harm the poorest countries.
In the Global Fund's own experience, when girls and women have greater access to education - not just the 3 R's: reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic, but also the 3 C's: courage, contraception, and choice - their improved health leads to positive community outcomes including economic growth and sustainable development. We agree with columnist Ellen Goodman: "if we can lighten the burden on the planet while widening the chances for women," that's our kind of offset. And, at least on the issues of women's reproductive rights, this is proving to be our kind of State Department. Kavita N. Ramdas, Why Women's Reproductive Freedom Ensures Our Survival, IPS, 1-8-10

Here is another excerpt from Ambassador Kidman's remarks, with a link to the full text:

In 2008, more than 5 million people added their names to our call that governments everywhere make ending violence against women a top priority. People from all corners of the world joined forces. That’s why this year’s Say NO campaign is all about actions. Our website, launched in early November 2009, has already recorded more than 35,000 calls to action around the world. And that brings us to the events of today in San Francisco
As we break ground for an international centre to end violence against women and children, there is no doubt that the issue is urgent and belongs on centre stage. It also requires strong partnerships, like the one we’re announcing today between UNIFEM and Family Violence Prevention Fund. Behind us we see what the walls and windows will look like. But the centre will take life from our shared vision and what we and many others bring through its doors. In this place we will share strategies and models so that others can build on these good practices.
As a UNIFEM Say NO partner, Family Violence Prevention Fund will add pictures and reports of today’s event — and UNIFEM will use the internet and social media to reflect these back to its global audience. Nicole Kidman, UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador, Ceremony for the International Centre to End Violence, 1-8-10

To download the UNIFEM annual report (2009), click here. For more on the Say No campaign to end violence against women, click here.

Some Related Posts

UNIFEM, Violence Against Women, & the Global Significance of Sonia Sotomayor Going to SCOTUS

Human Rights Update: UNIFEM Works for Achievement of the "Missing Goal" -- Ending Violence Against Women

UNIFEM Asks You to Take a Stand in the Global Fight to End Violence Against Women; It Will Cost You Nothing But the Time to Type Your Name

Human Rights Update: Most Basic Rights of Women Under Attack in Iran, the Congo & Even in Evo Morales' New Bolivia

Human Rights Update: Ending Violence Against Women is a Global Imperative; UNIFEM Launches Campaign

In This Century of Crisis, Empowering Women is Vital if the Human Race is to Prevail, i.e., Evolve

Global Campaign Against Poverty 10-17-07: Stand Up & Speak Out -- Raise Women Up, Defend Them Against Violence & Oppression, Put Them in Power

Human Rights Update 9-6-07: In the 21st Century, Sane Men are Feminists -- UNIFEM Works to Dismantle the Edifice of Dysfunction

Hard Rain Journal 2-17-07: UN Millennium Goals and Human Rights Update -- Healing Balm for the World? Feed Children, Empower Women

For a directory of Words of Power Human Rights Updates, click here.

Richard Power's True North on the Pathless Path: Toward 21st Century Spirituality is available from Amazon.com

Richard Power's Left-Handed Security: Overcoming Fear, Greed & Ignorance in This Era of Global Crisis is available from Lulu.com.

For information on all of Richard Power's books, visit his Author's Page on Amazon.com.

UN, UNFEM, UN Millennium Development Goals, MDG Human Rights, Feminism, Nicole Kidman, Violence Against Women

The Future of the Planet, the Fate of the Nation, the Failure of the Collective Conscience, & Why Mahakasyapa Smiled When Buddha Twirled the Flower

Image: Frida Kahlo, Love Embrace of the Universe

In a new paper published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Sir Partha Dasgupta makes the point that the problem with gross domestic product is the gross bit. There are no deductions involved: all economic activity is accounted as if it were of positive value. Social harm is added to, not subtracted from, social good. A train crash which generates £1bn worth of track repairs, medical bills and funeral costs is deemed by this measure to be as beneficial as an uninterrupted service which generates £1bn in ticket sales. George Monbiot, After this 60-year Feeding Frenzy, Earth Itself has Become Disposable, Guardian, 1-5-10

Migrant Mother/Pea-Picker in the Dust Bowl, Photo by Dorothea Lange, 1936

The decade that just ended has been the worst for the U.S. economy in modern times by a wide range of data, with zero net job growth and the slowest rise in economic output since the 1930s. Many who stayed employed were hurt too, with middle-income families making less in 2008, when adjusted for inflation, than they did in 1999 — the first decade since the 1960s that median incomes have fallen. Think Progress, 1-2-09

For More Compelling Photos from Mia Farrow's Journeys, click here.

In Washington ... few challenges have produced a greater chasm between words and deeds. A first step toward closing that gap is debunking the myths about Sudan that persist among policymakers, diplomats and the public: The genocide in Darfur is largely over ... China's oil investments in Sudan keep it from pressuring the government ... Pressure on Sudan hasn't worked, so let's try incentives ... Indicting President Bashir hurt peace efforts ... The United States is doing everything it can to end the violence. John Prendergast, Five Myths About Genocide and Violence in Darfur, Washington Post, 12-18-09



The Future of the Planet, the Fate of the Nation, the Failure of the Collective Conscience, & Why Mahakasyapa Smiled When Buddha Twirled the Flower

By Richard Power

Predatory capitalism has failed as an economic model, just as surely as Soviet "communism" failed; and just as we suddenly found ourselves on the precipice of the Soviet empire's collapse in the late 1980s, we could soon find ourselves on the precipice of the U.S. empire's collapse.

The antidote to both otherwise fatal illnesses is a mixed economy, which promotes true free enterprise and yet cultivates a robust commons (e.g., critical infrastructure, mass transportation, public education and yes, universal, single-payer healthcare). This antidote, if allowed to take hold, will evolve over time into a new model, for which we do not yet have words or concepts; a model that will be more respectful of the framework outlined by our founders.

Does this nation have the collective courage or the clarity of mind to locate the balance point between these two extremes before it is too late and we are plunged irretrievably into chaos? Certainly, in past two decades since the fall of the Soviet Union, it has not given any evidence of such qualities.

Consider the evidence.

I have now been speaking out on the threat of climate change for a decade.

In 2000, Bush-Cheney reneged on the US commitment made to the Kyoto accords during Clinton-Gore. For the next eight years, the US political establishment ducked this grave planetary threat, hiding behind a faux controversy, predicated on denial and disinformation, and coated with a veneer of credibility by the US mainstream news media. (There is no legitimate debate. The scientific consensus is well-established, and has been for YEARS now.)

In 2009, despite good intentions and some skillful moves, Obama came back from Copenhagen with next to nothing. Better than nothing? Yes. Better than blowing it off? Certainly. Enough to rescue the future from the follies of the present? Not even close.

After a weak deal in Copenhagen, Pachauri warned that allowing scepticism to delay international action on global warming would endanger the lives of the world's poorest people. "In the end, knowledge and science will undoubtedly triumph, but delay in reducing emissions of greenhouse gases would only lead to ...worse impacts of climate change and growing hardship for the most vulnerable regions in the world, which are also unfortunately some of the poorest communities on Earth." Adam Vaughan, Climate Change Scepticism Will Increase Hardship for World's Poor: IPCC Chief, Guardian, 1-4-10

I have been speaking out in the catastrophe in Darfur for seven years now.

Despite occasional outbursts of sanctimonious rhetoric from Bush, between 2003 and 2008, the USA did nothing of any note. And despite high-borne campaign promises, the Obama administration is not undertaking a sufficiently radical change in policy.

Look, it is simple. For a couple of years now, those on the ground have been calling for a DOZEN HELICOPTERS to support the work of the UN/AU peacekeeping force.

No one in the West has come up with these helicopters.

Do you know the full extent of the US military hegemony in this world?

The 2009 U.S. military budget is almost as much as the rest of the world's defense spending combined and is over nine times larger than the military budget of China ... The United States and its close allies are responsible for about two-thirds of the world's military spending ...

And yet still, no helicopters to support the UN/AU peacekeepers.

The point is not the upcoming Sudanese elections, or the on again off again peace negotiations. Civil war is the most likely outcome to both flawed processes.

The point is this evening some young girl will be sent out to collect firewood, and she will be much more likely to become a victim of rape as a weapon of war because we have not scrounged up those helicopters.

Of course, when the civil war comes, it may not matter anymore, because it is quite possible the young girl and her family will have been massacred in the final strokes of this slow motion genocide.

She won't be going out to collect firewood, she will be firewood.

Since 2003, an estimated 300,000 have perished in this violence and 2.7 million have been displaced or forced to leave their homes. This genocide is seen as the most atrocious humanitarian crisis occurring today. The U.S. called this murder, rape and torture genocide in 2004, yet our country hasn't learned that actions speak louder than words. Let's reaffirm our Darfur commitment, The Tennessean, 1-4-10

So at this extraordinary juncture, with the future of the planet, the fate of the nation and the failure of our collective conscience in the balance, I am compelled to ask you, why is it, do you think, that Mahākāśyapa smiled when Buddha twirled the flower?

Do you know the story?

On Vulture Peak, Gautama Buddha twirled a flower, and raised his eyebrow. No one in the assembly responded. They sat, silent and expressionless. Only Mahākāśyapa smiled. Then Buddha announced that he was entrusting Mahākāśyapa with "the heart of Nirvana, the true form of non-form ... a special transmission outside the teaching." Thereafter, whenever Buddha communed with the assembly, Mahākāśyapa shared his pillow.

So why did Mahākāśyapa smile?

He smiled because the flower was in the mind, and the mind was in the flower. He smiled because the beauty of the flower was the clarity of the mind, and the clarity of the mind was the beauty of the flower. He smiled because the heart was the fathomless depth of the mind, and the mind was the shining surface of the heart. He smiled because there was a dimension of being where word was deed and deed was word, and all was vibration, and that vibration was boundless, unconditional love.

That flower is twirling inside each of us even now. And from the seed of each of those twirling flowers in the pool of psyche waves of love's wisdom, in infinite reverberation, are emanating. These waves are producing miracles of humanity all around us (some secular, some religiously inspired, NONE of them fundamentalist).

And so even here even now, we can find ourselves smiling.

Miracles of love's wisdom in action in Egypt ...

The two solar panels and bio-gas unit on the roof of Soliman's building in Darb El-Ahmar provide hot water and cooking gas to his two-bedroom apartment, reducing his family's carbon footprint and energy costs. The clean energy appliances, made mostly from recycled material, have reduced his household's waste have meant that "my gas and electricity bills are much less than before," says Soliman. They shaved nearly 50 percent off the utility bills. EGYPT: Rooftops Empower the Poor, IPS, 1-3-10

Solar CITIES, the group that engineered this set-up has built 35 solar water heaters (approx. $500 each) in Egypt since 2007. Imagine if they had been empowered to build 3500.

Miracles of love's wisdom in action in Columbia ...

Indigenous and rural women from southern Tolima, a province located in the heart of Colombia, are lending a hand to the bleak land around them, with the aim of simultaneously recovering the ecosystem and regaining their own dignity, in a community effort that is changing their environment and their lives. Columbia: Women Empowered by Restoring Desertified Land, IPS, 1-2-09

The Women's Hands project "extends over 56 rural villages, townships and Pijao reservations, which make up six municipalities." Imagine if it spread across South America, Africa and the Middle East.

Miracles of love's wisdom in action in Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic ...

Less and less waste, these days, is actually allowed to go to waste. Instead, it is used to generate biogas, a methane-rich mixture that can be employed for heating and for the generation of electricity ... The consequence of techniques such as these is that an ever-larger proportion of sewage is being used as a raw material for energy generation. Germans already process about 60% of their faeces this way, and the Czechs, Britons and Dutch are close behind (see chart). GENeco reckons the figure in Britain by the end of 2010 will have leapt to 75%—enough, when converted into electricity, to power 350,000 homes. The seat of power, The Economist, 12-30-09

The sewer systems of many of America's great cities are crumbling and in desperate need of repair. Imagine a nationwide job program that not only rebuilt this vital infrastructure but turned it into a source of energy. In the teeming mega-slums of much of the rest of the world, there are towering walls of human faeces overtaking the human population producing the waste. Imagine a renewed peace corp turning into an energy resource.

Miracles of love's wisdom in action in the USA ...

Boulder and Denver’s civic and government leaders, research institutions, and entrepreneurs are building a home for the electric car. Rather than waiting for the car to arrive, these entities are plug-in-proofing their cities and demonstrating a belief in the potential for vehicle electrification. Grist, 12-28-09

Imagine every one of the major metropolitan areas in the USA undertaking such an initiative.

Ah, but so much more could be done ...

Solar power technologies could generate 15 percent of America's power in 10 years, but only if Washington levels the playing field on subsidies ... Currently, solar contributes less than 1 percent of energy used in the U.S. and employs some 60,000 people. Increasing that amount to 15 percent would result in a total of 882,000 new jobs, the association said ... The solar ramp-up would also fight climate change. A 15 percent scenario would slash America's energy-related emissions by an estimated 10 percent ... Stacy Feldman, Solve Climate, 12-29-09

Imagine that, 15% of the USA's power, 882,000 new jobs and a 10% cut in our greenhouse gas emissions.

And the Crisis in Darfur, too, can be profoundly impacted by the miracle of love's wisdom ...

While Fidelity and Vanguard failed to step up to the plate, TIAA-CREF emerged as the first large U.S. fund firm to take up the banner of the anti-genocide investment cause, revealing on Monday that the firm sold stakes in four Asian oil companies alleged to have ties to the Sudanese government behind the Darfur genocide. Mutual Fund Wire, 1-4-10

Imagine if Fidelity and Vanguard shook off the spell of denial and exercised a meaningful grasp of corporate social responsibility by joining TIAA-CREF, an act which in turn led to pressure on other economic and financial interests to disabuse themselves of their complicity (whether directly or indirectly) in underwriting rape as a weapon of war and genocide as a geopolitical tactic.

Whatever happens now, always remember why Mahākāśyapa smiled, and look for that twirling flower in your own consciousness; it is there, it has always been there. It is the reality of you, it is love's wisdom. No matter what becomes of us all.

For the Words of Power Climate Crisis Updates Archive, click here.

Have you met Al Gore at the Wall yet?

I encourage you to find out why 350 is the most important number in your life and the lives of everyone you love: go to 350.org or Google "Bill McKibben" for the answer.

As always, I encourage you to follow events in Darfur on Mia Farrow's site, it is the real-time journal of a humanitarian at work; the content is compelling, insightful and fiercely independent.

For an archive of Words of Power posts on the Crisis in Darfur, click here.

True North on the Pathless Path: Toward 21st Century Spirituality is available from Amazon.com

Left-Handed Security: Overcoming Fear, Greed & Ignorance in This Era of Global Crisis is available from Lulu.com.

Al Gore, Darfur, Mia Farrow, Climate Crisis, George Monbiot, 350, Healthcare, John Prendergast

Hard Rain Late Night: Sinead O'Connor -- Feel So Different (Concierto en directo en el Forest National de Brusseles. 29 de octubre de 1990)

Hard Rain Late Night: Sinead O'Connor -- Feel So Different



Click here for Hard Rain Late Night Music Video -- Archive

Sinead O'Connor, Late Night, Music, Richard Power, Words of Power