GRETA IS 19 NOW, and while she doesn’t get the headlines of an inane Donald Trump, when she speaks she has something about the world’s future that is worth listening to. On Earth Day …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you had an active account on our previous website, then you have an account here. Simply reset your password to regain access to your account.
If you did not have an account on our previous website, but are a current print subscriber, click here to set up your website account.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
* Having trouble? Call our circulation department at 360-385-2900, or email our support.
Please log in to continue |
|
GRETA IS 19 NOW, and while she doesn’t get the headlines of an inane Donald Trump, when she speaks she has something about the world’s future that is worth listening to. On Earth Day April 22, the young Scandinavian climate activist spoke for the entire world once again when she claimed that the annual Earth Day event had “turned into an opportunity for people in power to post their ‘love’ for their planet while at the same time destroying it at maximum speed.”
Just as she spoke out against world governments aimed at personal enrichment (such as the one headed by Donald Trump), she continues to warn of the quickening destruction of the world today — at the expense of a “green” reality as championed by the likes of short-time President Joe Biden.
Let’s face it. Biden — only a little over a year in office sweeping out the smelly remains of a rotten Trump administration — has his hands pretty full fighting an inevitable war against Russian despot Vladimir Putin. A war in which much of the world has been recruited, but which is not being fought on American soil or directly deploying human American forces. Some other details, such as the domestic price of gasoline, are inconsequential by comparison.
Jill Colvin of Associated Press said on March 4: “Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine is posing a serious test for Trump and his ‘America First’ doctrine at a moment when he is eyeing another presidential run and using this year's midterm elections to keep bending the GOP to his will. He's largely alone in his sustained praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin as ’smart,’ an assessment he reiterated last week during speeches to donors and conservative activists . . . The multinational partnerships that Trump repeatedly undermined, meanwhile, have allowed the West to quickly band together to hobble Russia's economy with coordinated sanctions. The NATO alliance, which Trump once dismissed as ‘obsolete’ is flexing its strength as a foil to Russia's aggression.”
Or also a Feb. 22 assessment by Catherine Garcia on Yahoo News: “Former President Donald Trump is giving Russian President Vladimir Putin two thumbs up for his decision to recognize two breakaway regions of Ukraine and send troops to the areas.
“While Putin's actions have received sharp criticism and sanctions from President Biden, Trump was full of praise for the Russian leader. During an interview on the conservative Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, Trump said it was ‘wonderful,’ ‘so smart,’ and even ‘genius’ for Putin to ‘declare a big portion of the Ukraine ... as independent.’ He claimed Putin will now ‘go in’ and ‘be a peacekeeper.’ While Putin has said he's sending troops to the breakaway regions as part of a ’peacekeeping’ mission, Western leaders say he is merely making it easier for Russia to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine."
Indeed! Sajid Javid, a senior UK minister, said Jan. 22 that "the invasion of Ukraine has begun.” That followed Putin’s ordering soldiers into the separatist-held east of the country. And the whole of Ukraine fast became a mass of smoldering ruins, blood and mass graves.
In November a small percentage of Americans will go to the polls, largely those inspired by Trump’s pie in the sky,
and an increased cost of gasoline (of which Biden would rather lessen overall use in the first place) as the cost of a proxy war on foreign soil — and the self-serving forces of Trump may well pull out another second-hand victory in this supposed bastion of democracy.
Green politics is a political ideology that aims to foster an ecologically sustainable society often, but not always, rooted in environmentalism, nonviolence, social justice and grassroots democracy. Biden is making some progress in this area with moves to install renewable energy sources in place of fossil fuels — but intelligence remains a hard sell.
By the time Greta reaches my present age, it will be 2096. If humanity has survived wars, pestilence, disappearing resources and the combined effects of global warming and over-population, my oldest great-grandchild may have reached the age of 79 in this struggling world.
I see no justification for optimism. Out of either necessity and/or choice, too many people are caught up in their personal lives today and let tomorrow fend for itself. I truly feel that by the beginning of the next century these 2020s will be, at best, “the good old days.”
The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports show the world is barreling toward stronger, more frequent disasters fueled by the climate crisis, with little time to reverse course.
19 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
Thomas Camfield
I had just finished polishing the corners and getting this blog off to editor Brian Kelly as soon as possible when I finally picked up my copy of the morning's Seattle Times. And lo and behold! There across the front page, the largest headline read: "Olympic Peninsula glaciers could disappear by 2070." So I apologize to science for being about a generation too optimistic in my prognostications. Meanwhile, the Port Townsend Leader and The Seattle Times resolutely represent the Free Press in difficult times.
Wednesday, May 4, 2022 Report this
MargeS
We all have short term attention span these days, news 24/7, what crisis happened today. Glad you are here to slow us down and remind us of what's important.
Wednesday, May 4, 2022 Report this
Justin Hale
"world governments aimed at personal enrichment (such as the one headed by Donald Trump)"..... As a businessman Trump made himself a Billionaire, he returned his salary as POTUS to the government for 4 years. Trump actually lost money being in government.
"Over the course of his (Biden's) tenure, his salary increased from $42,500 per year to $174,000 per year, according to the Senate's historical records. When he was elected Vice President, he got another raise, earning roughly $230,000 a year." (https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/politics/a31265187/joe-biden-net-worth/) Biden has made his money from being in the government for most of his life. Once again the partisan Democrat Tom points a finger at Trump when in reality it's Biden who personally enriched himself from the government.
"The multinational partnerships that Trump repeatedly undermined,"..... Another distortion, Trump told the members of NATO to pay their fair share, and they did. "The U.S. president said he would like to see NATO members pay more than 2 percent of their gross domestic product for defense. Trump told NATO leaders last year to increase defense spending to 4 percent of GDP. He said the United States pays 4.3 percent of its GDP to NATO". NATO is mainly a defense structure for European nations why should the US carry more of the burden? Seems to me that's common sense, but to Tom it's "undermining" the organization.
"I truly feel that by the beginning of the next century these 2020s will be, at best, “the good old days.”..... Ask most people if things are better in 2022 than they were in 2017, the "good old day's" is not what most would say we are in today.
Wednesday, May 4, 2022 Report this
MargeS
Still supporting Trump. Get over it JIH, the man lost the election, he has no place in politics and Biden is a president who cares about all of us. We live in a different world today, it's not 1950s America, it a Global world, where we better care about what's going on with our fellow humans.
Wednesday, May 4, 2022 Report this
Justin Hale
Who is it who can't get through a blog without dragging Trump into it? As long as you haters keep repeating your lies and half-truths I will be here to expose your game.....
"Biden is a president who cares about all of us", you can believe that nonsense if you want, there are a few million who would disagree with you.
" President Joe Biden on Wednesday called former President Donald Trump’s supporters “the most extreme political organization that’s existed in American history,” suggesting a leaked Supreme Court ruling shows conservatives plan to chip away at the rights of marginalized groups. (www.forbes.comwww.forbes.com) ..... Does that sound like someone who cares about the millions who didn't support him? Sounds to me like someone starting rumors and sowing the seeds of division.
Thursday, May 5, 2022 Report this
Thomas Camfield
When all else fails, stall . . . at least until after the mid-term elections are over. A May 3 Yahoo News story began: "A New York court on Tuesday denied former President Donald Trump's request to put a halt to the $10,000 in daily fines and a contempt order levied by a judge on April 25. Trump was held in contempt after failing to comply with a December 1, 2021, subpoena from New York State Attorney General Letitia James in the office's wide-ranging civil fraud probe into the former president and his company . . . Trump has maintained he has none of the do***ents—including records related to his personal finances . . ."
So a man who is obsessed with money allegedly keeps no record of it. I'll decline the usual offer to get side-tracked on some single point created for that purpose—and spend the current week on ******** and women's rights.
Thursday, May 5, 2022 Report this
Thomas Camfield
The word obliterated by the censor was ABOR followed by TIONS, which should make my next blog quite a challenge.
Thursday, May 5, 2022 Report this
Justin Hale
What the hel does Trump's problems with the New York courts have to do with your false allegations that Trump has enriched himself through his time in government?
Tom, here's your work-around for that upcoming blog, just call it baby killing.
Thursday, May 5, 2022 Report this
MargeS
The polling data is pretty clear that a majority of Americans think that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned. According to a January poll from CNN, 69% of Americans want to keep Roe v. Wade intact, while just 30% want the ruling completely overturned.
You weren't a women before Roe v Wade were you JIH, I am guessing here but you probably have never been a woman. And what right does the Supreme Court have to dismantle "settled law" that the public supports? A woman's right to chose.
I might have more sympathy if the christian right would agree to birth control, but their not going to do that.
There are many reasons women have ********s, in the days before Roe v Wade women died from illegal ********s and no one gave a da-am. No one is saying you have to have an ******** but if that is your decision, the Choice is yours.
And by the way, your forever saying Trump is a great guy because he gave his salary as president to charity is a crock of bull, it was a tax write-off to save him some money, Trump never does anything that doesn't fill his pockets.
Thursday, May 5, 2022 Report this
MargeS
I find it revolting that the Leader will not allow us to write Ab - ortion without going to ridiculous extremes. Every other newspaper I have read uses the word in their headlines.
Thursday, May 5, 2022 Report this
Justin Hale
I'm not anti-********, I just don't think it is the federal government's role to decide one way or the other, it should be a state rights issue.
I think we all agree, the Leader's filter they use for their comments is ******-up.
Messed.
Thursday, May 5, 2022 Report this
MargeS
State's cannot agree on a lot of things, Abor tion is one of them. The Supreme Court made this decision in 1973.
On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court issued a 7–2 decision in favor of "Jane Roe" (Norma McCorvey) holding that women in the United States had a fundamental right to choose whether to have ********s without excessive government restriction and striking down Texas's ******** ban as unconstitutional.
The Republicans are always saying "smaller government" except where women are concerned. Except where social issues are concerned.
Friday, May 6, 2022 Report this
Justin Hale
Seems to me that the argument is "fetal viability" Roe v. Wade used the three-trimester rule, which was amended in the planned parenthood v. Casey to the 24-week rule. Also in R v.W was this "The court also ruled that this right is not absolute and must be balanced with other considerations the state may have such as advancements in technology making the point of fetal viability sooner over time"...... "embryonic cardiac activity can often be detected using a transvajinal ultrasound at about six to seven weeks of pregnancy,[9][nb 1] but may not be detectable until 12 weeks' gestation when a Doppler fetal monitor is used"
"in March 2018, the state of Mississippi passed the Gestational Age Act, which banned any ******** operation after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for medical emergencies or severe fetal abnormality, but did not include any exceptions for cases of **** or incest." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade)
As I said I am not against abor tion, quite the opposite.
Are you and Tom going to turn this debate into another us versus them, Republican v. Democrat issue?
Friday, May 6, 2022 Report this
MargeS
JIH you don't think this is a difference between Republicans and Democrats? 62% of people voting Republican think it should be illegal. About eight-in-ten Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (82%) say abort ion should be legal in all or most cases. Yes it is a division between Democrats and Republicans. So, the statistics make it a democrat vs republican issue.
" In a 1976 article, researchers from the Center for Disease Control examined national ******** data from the three years surrounding the rulings and estimated that the number of illegal procedures in the country plummeted from around 130,000 to 17,000 between 1972 and 1974. The number of deaths associated with illegal ******** decreased from 39 to five in that same time period; women who died as a result of illegal ********s typically were black, were more than 12 weeks pregnant and had self-induced in their own community. The researchers concluded that ******** services need to be improved and available more widely, especially for women at high risk for seeking illegal ********s, because “any actions which impede their access to legal ******** may increase their risk of death.” More than 40 years later, their words are a potent reminder of the dangers of restricting ******** access." https://www.guttmacher.org/
Even Trump was at one time supported Roe v Wade. But then when he ran for office reversed his position. No surprise there.
—New York Times, April 13, 1989
Well, look, I’m very pro-choice … I just believe in choice … I am strongly for choice … I am pro-choice in every respect.
Whoops!
Friday, May 6, 2022 Report this
Justin Hale
The Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case is the issue before the SCOTUS, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobbs_v._Jackson_Women%27s_Health_Organization)
Is the Mississippi "Gestational Age Act" unconstitutional is the question. I don't believe it is. This from Roe v. Wade, "The court also ruled that this right is not absolute and must be balanced with other considerations the state may have such as advancements in technology making the point of fetal viability sooner over time".
So do you want the SCOTUS to decide that the Mississippi law is unconstitutional, which would mean what? that Mississippi goes back to the 24 week rule? Either way I don't see how that would "overturn" Roe v. Wade, which is the big scare story the MSM seems to be pushing.
I agree with the Roe v. Wade law, as it was written, and amended.
Friday, May 6, 2022 Report this
Thomas Camfield
My main question is why The Leader, bastion of the Free Press, while Donald Trump and his ilk continue to promote the greedy under-belly of human nature, suddenly in recent months adopted such a weird and extreme censorship for its blog comments. I can only assume that it was out of fear of a lawsuit over unrestrained speech—and there is a "sleeping dog" somewhere
In any case, *************** is a common little word, and I don't see the same concern over "vasectomy."0
l''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''j
'
Saturday, May 7, 2022 Report this
Thomas Camfield
OK, I won't try to disguise "abor tions" by using hyphens between letters.
Saturday, May 7, 2022 Report this
Justin Hale
And yet they allow assume?
Sunday, May 8, 2022 Report this
MargeS
I am worried about Climate change, Global Warming, whatever you call it. It is a high priority for President Biden, but the Republican's in Congress are not that concerned.
"How did we get here? A total unwillingness to cooperate with Democrats is part of the problem. The polarized atmosphere in Washington is such that it is difficult for a Republican to support anything proposed by the Biden administration, lest they be demonized by right-wing media and the party’s activist base. A lack of honesty exacerbates this problem. Just in the last few days there was a flareup on the political right that President Joe Biden’s climate plan intended to severely limit Americans’ meat consumption. His plan said no such thing, but as the saying goes, a lie can travel around the world while the truth is lacing up its boots."
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/planetpolicy/2021/05/10/republicans-in-congress-are-out-of-step-with-the-american-public-on-climate/
Monday, May 9, 2022 Report this