Global Warming, Myth or Reality?

Last night I took part in an interesting discussion with a friend of mine about Global Warming. What struck me was that there are still people who may not believe that humans have anything to do with Global Warming, and have bought into the myth that it is just earth's natural cycle. Now I'm willing to concede that earth probably does over billions of does cycle, slowly and gradually as a normal, natural event. However, what has taken place over the last 100 years is ANYTHING but slow and gradual, but yet is quite the opposite. It has been fast and extreme, since the industrial revolution started.

I often hear the naysayers point out that forecasters can't predict the weather two days in advance, so how can they know global warming is occurring. The answer is simple, if the climate is acting in an extreme manner and over time those occurrences are happening with more regularity and becoming more and more extreme, than you can extrapolate that data into a continuing trend that is neither natural, nor normal.

In fact, if one merely looks at the trends over data available over the last 1000 years, what is striking is how steady and gradual the climate is. Yet, if you look over that same data for the last 100 years, the explosive spike in the figures can only be concluded as being man made, and a result of the industrial revolution. What might have taken the earth 1000 years or more, we have managed to accomplish in 100. What this means, for humans as a species, is that unless we unless we do something drastic and soon, our climate will continue to spiral out of control to a point of no return.

Are we at that tipping point? I don't believe so, and I think there is still time for humans to change their habits and take action. I only hope that people recognize the role they play in the environment before it is too late.

(Photo courtesy of NASA)

Source:

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/globalwarming/home.html

Obama Preserves the Right to Torture?!?

Just 12 days after President Obama's inauguration, one controversial tactic, implemented by President Bush, will allow renditions to continue as part of a "war on terror" tactic, thanks to a Executive Order signed by Obama on January 22. For those of you who don't know what "Rendition" is, it is the act of secretly capturing a person of interest, even if that person has committed no crime, who is then transported and detained in a foreign prison by countries that cooperate with the U.S. While I applaud President Obama for banning harsh interrogation techniques that have been termed "torture" by many at these secret CIA prisons and places like Guantanamo. The reality is that we are still condoning torture by allowing these prisoners to be handed over to foreign prisons. for once you hand them over to another country...you lose control.

Whether one performs the act themselves or ask someone else to do the act for them, they are as guilty as the one performing the act. Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure renditions can be a useful tool if done properly, but allowing prisoners to be tortured and pretending like it is not our responsibility, because we handed them over to another Government is absurd. Now maybe President Obama believes that once we hand them over they will be treated with respect, but how can we really know? When prisoners are in U.S. hands there is a system of checks and balances to ensure that the law is not broken, but in a foreign prison, we lose that checks and balance.

The reality is torture only encourages prisoners to lie, so as to convince the interrogators to stop torturing them. It is these kinds of lies that were the result of the stories that led up to the claim of Weapons of Mass Destruction and the eventual invasion of Iraq. Are these the kinds of sources we want to base our foreign policy on? When there are far better ways to gain intelligence without resorting to torture. To return to the old tactics of the Bush Administration, in my opinion, is a mistake.

(Artwork: Matt Groller / Rolling Stone)