Read James Hansen's op-ed piece in yesterday's NY Times. If you are a parent or a grandparent, an aunt or an uncle, you have a duty to act. Passivity is not an option. E-mail your Senators and member of Congress. It doesn't take much effort. Contact information for your Senators is available here. You can find your Congressman or Congresswoman here. Just tell them to read Hansen's article and to act. Now.
Let's take the crackpot Republican support for the Keystone XL pipeline, and turn it into a devastating election-year opportunity. The message writes itself: supporting the pipeline is an attack on our children and grandchildren. Nothing is more cruel or more shameful.
[Randy Thompson]'s laughed at the preposterous promises of an economic boom; at one point, TransCanada promised that the pipeline would provide 100,000 new jobs. It later was revealed that these jobs included employment in the "entertainment" industry that would spring up along the pipeline's route. "Strippers," Randy says. "They're talking about strippers. And temporary strippers at that."
Good news is so scarce these days that I can't get over having two cheering items on two successive days. First,the Brits came right out and reported:
We conclude, therefore, that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company.
OK, so it is a dog-bites-man story, but welcome and a long time coming nevertheless.
The second item requires a back story. On April 11th, a barefoot, nightshirt-clad man shot at close range an unoccupied, specially-equipped SUV that the Santa Fe police department uses to catch speeders. The vehicle was parked unoccupied at the roadside. On-board radar triggers cameras that photograph the license plates of passing speeding cars. Citations are issued electronically. Here's the video from the SUV camera:
Two weeks later, responding to an anonymous tip, the police interviewed Scott Powell who lives close to the site of the shooting. Powell owned a grey 2011 Audi that looks like the shooter's car. The next day, Powell traded in that car for a new, blue Audi. When the police returned to Powell's house to arrest him, Powell led the cops on a car chase through Santa Fe before being apprehended near a doctor's office.
Powell is 63. He has no previous problems with the law. He is well educated, lives in an affluent part of the city, and is a book dealer specializing in first editions and Irish literature. He also has a permit to carry concealed weapons. Yes, New Mexico is one of those states. Gun nuts say we are all safer because good gentlemen like Scott Powell can walk our streets and drive our roads carrying hidden weaponry. Until last week, the gunnies must have loved him. What a poster boy! No priors. Financially stable. He sells rare books; you can't find a better way to imply calm, gentle, and trustworthy. Scott Powell is no George Zimmerman.
Scott Powell also seems to have gone bonkers. No one wants him on their team anymore. Police searched his house after the arrest and seized a .45 caliber automatic pistol. a .357 revolver, a Beretta handgun, a Sig Sauer handgun, an unidentified handgun wrapped in plastic, three Beretta shotguns, and a bag of "miscellaneous ammunition." Powell's lawyer explained to the press that Powell has serious health problems including cancer, depression and attention deficit disorder. The state of New Mexico found him fit to carry concealed handguns. A crazy, depressed man with ADD and whole bunch of weapons.
Oh, yeah. Stalwart, gun-totin', citizen Powell fired five shots at a parked car from 10 feet. Two of those bullets missed completely. From three paces away.
