A Response To A Climate Change Critic

Last week my friend sent me this link. (From Fox News nonetheless)

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/09/14/nobel-prize-winning-physicist-resigns-from-top-physics-group-over-global/

Partly, I assume, to simply let me and know but also to agitate me because he knows my strong stance towards recognition, acceptance and solutions to the mammoth environmental changes occurring on our Earth right now.

I responded with my own email. I think it was really more a channel of some of my frustration with our society refusal to face the dangerous reality that is besetting them right now:

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He seems really bothered by the idea that global warming (or what really should be called 'climate change') is "incontrovertible". He makes a distinction between scientists accumulating data and the notion that an idea can't be contested, because that is counter to the nature of science. Everything should be questioned. It's not very surprising to hear from a man who deals with quantum mechanisms, a realm of science where the very idea of what we understand reality to be is questioned. You wouldn't go to a OB/Gyn if you had a breast cyst would you? No, because they're different fields. He thinks in a specific way for his field. He's been bred for it.

A scientist is also a human, with opinions, likes and disgusts. For him there is not enough evidence given the time span, but his leaving is the result of what he obviously takes as the politicization of science. The usage of "incontrovertible" was extremely upsetting to him and went against everything that he was taught and believes in.

Walt Brown graduated from MIT with a PhD in mech engineering (West Point graduate as well) and is a proponent of Young Earth Creationism. He went to MIT and got his PhD...do you believe that the world is 6,000 years old? There are plenty of smart people out there who I can disagree with.

There are also smart and stupid ways about approaching a problem. Whether or not climate change is the result of humans may not ultimately prove to be the deciding issue, but instead the simple question of, "what do we do with all this waste that we are creating?" That is an undeniable problem. Organisms have spent billions of years developing mechanisms to solve the issue of waste, which inevitably proves toxic. Why should the evolution of our human societies be any different?

Ultimately, the discussion of climate change and environmental issues is one that, I think, will prove to be a huge deciding factor of the survival of our societies. We are not immune to the laws of nature, including the idea that if you don't replenish what you use then you cease to live. What, I think, these discussions do do is get us to talk about these things, which barely anyone spoke about 40 years ago. And the very fact that "scientists" are not in all agreement on this issue proves how complicated the environment is. There is no one way, no one right solution, no one way to think. We have so may fields of medicine because the human body is just too damn complicated and it is impossible for one physician to be able to connect all the dots. The same applies to the currents and mechanisms of the Earth. We can't collect all the evidence from millions of years ago (apart from glacial records -- which only allows for a few thousand years), but we can certainly make a decision about how we want to venture into the unknown: with caution for our species (curtailing waste and dealing with it in a rational manner) or with full blown human arrogance (thank you Governor Rick Perry).

Whatever your politics or economics, nature/the universe/the Earth ultimately doesn't care. Whether a species lives or dies doesn't matter to the Earth. It just is. It's just evolution. We are the first species able, to a certain degree, to determine whether we will become extinct or continue into the future. Is all this time-wasting/money-wasting/bickering really worth our species' survival? I always think it's important to keep in mind that compared to the vastness of our entire universe we are inconsequential (this is without any sort of religious sentiment of course). A little blue dot floating around in a much bigger universe controlled by powers beyond that of our simple machines. I think Carl Sagan would agree.

Yay Earth!

Violent NYPD #OccupyWallStreet

How can anyone stand for such treatment of people simply fed up with being pawns to a system which they increasingly have less and less control over? Is this is what we pay for? Is this "Courtesy, Professionalism and Respect?".

To some (some were respectful) of these po-po (or rather pigs) featured in the video: Whatever your political or economic views, as an officer sworn to protect the common good you should be ashamed to wear the shield when you're part of a gang of men dragging a woman across the street. What possible threat could she have posed to you? You didn't like what she had to say? Your feelings were hurt so you felt the need to stomp her out? Seems like something I'd expect to find in the slums of NYC than in the training academy of the NYPD.

No one born, raised or currently living in NYC should be OK with this. This is your city! This is your home! Don't abandon it when it needs you the most! Our future is looking bleak at the moment with our economy in shambles, our political hopes teetering and our environment in degradation. We should be able to look towards each other for support. To anyone living in NYC I encourage you to simply speak with the protestors, show your support for them and let the country know that bringing about the financial collapse of the West is not something to be taken lightly. Our futures were never the bankers' and financial cowboys' to take. This didn't stand in Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Paris, London or Bolivia. Why should we be subjugated and placid here in bad ass New York City?! Enough is enough!

Clean Living

This is my favorite way to see New York City. Nothing like being in complete control of your own movement, pace in life, and direction. Plus, it saves on oil. And who doesn't love to give the world a little bit longer to sustain itself? One of the three I own, but this baby's simply for stylish cruising.



I still have yet to name her though...


"Think of bicycles as rideable art that can just about save the world."
- Grant Petersen

"I thought of that while riding my bicycle."
- Albert Einstein on the Theory of Relativity

I think I'm a little bit in love with you...

..but only if you're a little bit in love with me.


So often it seems so true. Especially when people have been hurt already due to past relationships. I love this song.

9-11-2011

Today I took a ride to the Financial District to see the World Trade Center and how people had decided to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on NYC. There were those who cried, some who prayed, others who came for the pictures of these people, firefighters, cops, natives, tourists, patriots, non-racism/anti-Muslim bigotry and pro-tolerance rallies and even th 9-11 conspiracy folks made a showing. It was incredible being there, paying my respects to the roughly 3,000 civilians that lost their lives on that day ten years ago, but I couldn't help but feel that an essential element of what this day means had been clouded over.

My hearts go out to all the families affected but I also felt that perhaps after ten years of remembering and "never forgetting" we should begin to shift our focus from the past and to the future. Death isn't something to be glorified and fetishized but should instead be used as a reminder that life is precious and valuable. We, as a species, have an incredible journey ahead of us as we grow technologically but stagger forward with growth regarding wisdom, compassion, maturity, understanding, tolerance and love. No one should have died that day just because they happened to be normal citizens living a normal life, but neither should the average citizen of Gaza, of Tibet or the Congo. It was a wake up call for Americans that the world can be ugly. That our luxuries can only shield us from the truth of poverty, war, malnutrition, environmental devastation and terrorism for only so long before we are affected. We are not special. We are not a privileged people. We are more than that. We are part of a community of a collective humanity that interacts with itself on a scale never before seen in history. We are more connected than ever before and it's time that we begin to see ourselves for what we are. Flesh and blood, mind and body. Simply put...human beings.

Perhaps the best way to honor our beloved dead is not by the mere display of symbols but by our determination to see that trajedies like 9-11 never occur again. Today is not simply a day of mourning for Americans but for all of us part of this greater humanity. Let us take on the struggle to live each day bettering the world and learning to love rather than hate. God Bless all those lost to war.

Electric Zoo 2011

MUSIC IS BETTER TOGETHER :)

Freedom

Above is a picture of someone who I consider my brother. He enlisted into the Army at the age of 18 because he believed that he needed to give back to the country that gave his parents the opportunity to lead a fulfilling life. He never agreed with the politics, the lies and the brainwashing that he came to understand too well in his years in the military. Nonetheless, his courage to face death in order to pay what he saw as his and his family's dues are inspiring. Before leaving for combat he tattooed his back with a quote "Freedom isn't free" and the image of St. Michael the Archangel.

The thought of true freedom can illicit free for the very fact that you, and only you, must be held responsible for every major event and minute detail of your life. There is no one to blame, nothing to hide behind and only your own to legs to bear the weights of life.

Let it all go and take a stand in the world. Make your mark, baby.

"Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility."
- Sigmund Freud