The Heat IS On

The high today at my house reached 86 F. In less than 24 hours, we are expecting some more snow. By the time it is done, they are predicting up to 9 inches. Insert emoticon of your choice, I am going to choose one that would suggest an obsence thought.

We don't have air conditioning. And our house faces west. We are in the sun all day. It reached 87 inside the house.

It made me think. About The Heat Is On, obviously. The "threat" of global warming that Gelbspan warns of is no longer, it is on us. The concensus in fossil fuel industries, government, society, and new technology is that we need to find alternate energy uses. In Milliken, where I live, Vestas blades on train cars pass through almost weekly. Last night, my husband was watching Shark Tank and there was a man looking for help expanding his technology that he presented as a kinetic-fueled charger for a cell phone, but that would eventually lead to ocean wave generators that would power, essentially, the world. Huge plans, basically. He was not given any offers, which was disheartening, but the point is that this is what inventors and businesses, even individuals, are looking for.

I have basically finished The Heat Is On, but I am one to read all those "boring" parts; in this case, that is the appendix which consists of Scientific Critiques over the skeptics mentioned. I will try not to get too carried away with my over-all analysis on the book. In fact, I have been avoiding writing in this blog for that reason (I finished the main section of the book 3 days ago). But, I do want to keep in the habit of writing.

That being said, I do want to approach one of the last topics addressed by Gelbspan. With the aide of Dr. Henry Kendall (1990 Nobel Prize for physics), along with other experts, the entire chapter entitled "The Coming Permanent State of Emergency", focuses on the collapse of democracy. The theory is that there is no way a democratic global community can exist much longer with the developing countries being supressed as they are along with the increasing shortage of goods. This is a topic I have studied before and that I feel deserves some attention. One book that comes to mind that would be a good recommendation from me to you would be AntiSystemic Movements. It was written at around the same time as The Heat Is On, but it has much more meat on this topic.

I am not including any new pictures on this blog post. This is mainly because I have not uploaded new ones that I want to use. Also because that damn real world is beckoning me once again... and it is a bit of an urgent matter...