Feb 2019, Week 3
In the Reader-Submitted issue of The Lee Camp Ledger we highlight the opinions and stories of the community. If you want us to publish a short opinion of yours or an explanation of something in the news that you think is important then send an email with a few paragraphs and a link to LeeCampLedger@protonmail.com.
Please read previous submissions to get an idea of what we’re looking for. We will edit your writing, but only up to a point.
M. Fantauzzo, Why Many Bigots and Antisemites Support Israeli Apartheid
Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are not only the first Muslim women in Congress, but they’re also the first to endorse the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian equal rights. For this, they are accused of antisemitism. Yet often, these accusers are cynically blasé to their own prejudices. Indeed, many are blind to the ways antisemitic tropes are used to support Israeli apartheid.
The argument that opposition to Israeli apartheid is per se antisemitic rests on the premise that its policies are justified because Palestinians are uniquely deranged. They are uniformly barbarians, savages, and terrorists committed to the wholesale extermination of all Jews. They use their children as “human shields” and for a kind of “human sacrifice.” Their children are like “little snakes.” They “worship death” and are therefore “not human.” They don’t mourn like you and I would. None of it is true.
J. Massa, Science Talk with Jim Massa
In this video, I discuss the ever increasing levels of carbon dioxide (CO2). The levels of CO2 have reached a new record high. This is the result of continued burning of fossil fuels. There are several problems associated with increasing levels of CO2.
Increasing levels of CO2 warms the atmosphere.
A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture.
This leads to increased precipitation often coming in large events, that is heavy amounts of precipitation will occur over a short time frame versus meting out a lesser amount of precipitation over a longer time period.
Another problem with increased CO2 levels is what happens in the oceans.
At the air-water interface, the CO2 mixes and becomes incorporated into the oceans, that is dissolved in solution.
The combination of CO2 plus water forms carbonic acid.
Though carbonic acid is a weak acid, it does dissociate (forms ions) which then lowers the pH of the water.
A lower pH increases the solubility of compounds, compounds that form structures in organisms. Example, calcium carbonate. This is a compound typically found in corals, certain mollusks (clams, limpets, mussels). These organisms are literally having their structure dissolve out from under them increasing their risk for mortality. This is basically the mechanism by which coral bleaching occurs.
Thank you for your time and for watching my video. I hope you found it to be interesting and informative. Please subscribe to my channel, share my work with others and I hope you will consider supporting my work by becoming a patron at my Patreon page. Thank you.
B. Schuster, On the Foundational Principles of True Democracy
We are living in a world of watered-down democracy, where freedom for all has become the freedom for the corrupt to line their pockets by any means necessary. These problems can be solved by altering the foundations on which our society functions.
The American demise into oligarchy originated in the failures of our democracy, but these failures are not the result of disorganization, incompetence, and gridlock alone. These failures are the result of willful harm to democracy by corrupt, deceptive actors.
Their most powerful weapons are the tools of deception, intimidation, covert bribery, and covert blackmail. Deceivers are global in nature and blend into their surroundings, not confined to any particular set of borders. They can create their own visas and write their own rules to move freely throughout the world like a poison permeating through the veins of humanity. They do not belong to any one nation, social class, or religion.
The Netflix hit Narcos may have popularized the question, “Plata o Plomo?” (silver or lead?), but many powerful elites have used the tactic. Sometimes the ultimatum is tweaked a bit, such as the times when Congress and the President are faced with the choice of disarming Iran or facing nuclear annihilation… or whether to overthrow Saddam Hussein or face the threat of mass destruction. Americans are repeatedly asked whether we want to take the Middle East’s oil by force or if we would prefer to be attacked by menacing terrorists and dictators.
Some of us reject this ultimatum. We want neither because it is apparent that our biggest threat of invasion and attack comes from the evil within.
Democracy can’t be installed by force in Iraq or Syria, or anywhere for that matter. Certainly not by an oligarchy that parades as a democracy. The American Revolution didn’t come about because a powerful foreign actor decided to force it upon the American people. It came about because we the people fought for it.
At this point, it’s no secret that the U.S. has become an oligarchy, a nation governed by wealthy corporate interests, but the mystery remains about who the deceptive actors are. Not all elites are corrupt, not even a majority of them.
I could name the names of the main suspects out there today but the suspects could easily be replaced tomorrow because the forces of evil are systemic in nature. If we could throw the most evil people in jail to bring good to the world, evil would’ve been defeated long ago.
Rather than devoting this article to finding and stopping the darkest individuals, I’ve devoted it to finding and repairing the broken pieces of American and European governance structures that allow evil to persist.
P. Edwards, the best jokes are of course just stating the obvious paradoxical truth
Next time some right winger starts harping about the "2nd Amendment," ask them:
Do you care about the parts of the bill of rights your government has actually taken away? (A.K.A. the rights that actually matter in the modern world). Or do you only care about the one right which has not been taken away, but which has no meaning in the context of freedom?
Habeas Corpus/Rights of the Accused/Due Process (military tribunals, indefinite detentions, and secret trials, Guantanamo Bay, torture)
Unreasonable search and seizure (government now keeps copies of all email, social media activity, phone call transcripts, and everything else including bank transaction records, in their searchable databases)
Freedom of speech (left wing protestors arrested and/or relegated to "free speech zones" far away from event or people they are protesting, alternative media being falsely labeled "foreign agents," internet search engines directing away from some sources of information and promoting government approved ones)
Freedom of the Press (some press being denied access, labeled as "foreign," and suppressed on the internet, journalists jailed or murdered directly or by our buddies)
Freedom of Assembly/Freedom to Petition Govt. for redress of Grievances (left wing protests attacked by police, arrest and jailing of left wing protestors--police and media support for right wing assemblies).
So your worship of firearms and the 2nd Amendment is proven to be bullshit. You don't care about rights. Usually 2nd Amendment fanatics secretly fantasize about murdering brown people who you imagine will try to rob you someday. Statistically, you are much more likely to shoot your own son as he sneaks home late from a party. Your firearms will not protect you from the military and police you idolize if they come for you.
M. Fantauzzo, Why Many Bigots and Antisemites Support Israeli Apartheid
Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are not only the first Muslim women in Congress, but they’re also the first to endorse the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian equal rights. For this, they are accused of antisemitism. Yet often, these accusers are cynically blasé to their own prejudices. Indeed, many are blind to the ways antisemitic tropes are used to support Israeli apartheid.
The argument that opposition to Israeli apartheid is per se antisemitic rests on the premise that its policies are justified because Palestinians are uniquely deranged. They are uniformly barbarians, savages, and terrorists committed to the wholesale extermination of all Jews. They use their children as “human shields” and for a kind of “human sacrifice.” Their children are like “little snakes.” They “worship death” and are therefore “not human.” They don’t mourn like you and I would. None of it is true.
K. Jeffers Tracy, Albedo is not Libido
Albedo is not Libido.
But here's how they are related. Libido is sexual energy as a component of the life instinct. And everybody knows, with sex, hot is good, but too hot, is not — like the 124 degrees Fahrenheit which hit in Algeria — procreation and recreation is not a priority when you're just trying to keep your own cellular cytoplasm from simmering.
ALBEDO is your climate change vocabulary word for today. Albedo is a measure of reflectivity. It tells how much radiation from the sun is reflected back by a surface. A surface such as — a white polar ice cap, a dark ocean, a city, a desert, a rainforest, a thick white cloud, a thin cloud cover — can you guess which has high albedo? High albedo would mean it reflects more of the sun's energy away from the earth.
As Antarctica has lost three trillion tons of ice over the last 25 years its decreased albedo means the smaller area of ice is reflecting back less solar radiation. And as it retreats, more dark blue ocean is exposed to the sun, to absorb and store heat.
Let's you and I walk across the desert on a day of full sun. I'll wear white and you wear black. My higher albedo might allow me more libido. Or would you prefer we switch outfits?
Does albedo help you understand how our human use of fossil fuels has triggered a disintegrating spiral of events? Are there solutions? Has the human race met seemingly impossible challenges before? Could you explain what you now know to a dozen others, so more people will support solutions?
Discuss this with a friend, please, to raise consciousness on Climate, or go to KarenClimate.blogspot.com to comment.
Thanks for reading!