Dear-Editor

Dear Editor

Better late than never! A resolution was agreed by all the Western State Governors to look into Global Warming. Conservative Republicans, John Huntsman, UT, Jim Risch, ID, Frank Murkowsi, AK, Arnold Schwarzenegger, CA joined Democrats Christine Gregoire, WA, Janet Napolitano, AZ, Brian Schweitzer MT and David Freudenthal, WY. Let’s hope they do more than just talk.

PBS Frontline did a fascinating program called Global Dimming, which talked about particulates from airplane contrails and industrial smokestacks etc., that rise up to become clouds, only the extra large particulates make the clouds heavier than normal and bounce the suns rays back at the sun. This has a cooling effect on the planet.

This means that the true results of global warming are being hidden by this cooling phenomena and that global warming could be much worse than previously thought.

Lloyd’s of London, the oldest insurance market in the world urged its members to start taking global warming more seriously or they will be destroyed. They recommended raising premiums or even classifying some risks as uninsurable due to greenhouse gases and rising sea levels in their report Climate Change, Adapt or Bust.

“Although it’s almost two decades since the UN recognized that climate change was a catastrophic threat to the Earth, it's clear that the insurance industry has not taken catastrophe trends seriously enough. Climate change is today's problem not tomorrow's. If we don't take action now to understand the changing nature of our planet we will face extinction," said Lloyd's director, Rolf Tolle.

Lloyd's noted that high sea temperatures are a key ingredient in wind storms… Increased hurricanes, such as Katrina, which devastated New Orleans last year, should not have been a surprise since academics had warned in 2001 of this kind of weather pattern. "Recent temperatures are probably outside the range of past oscillations and seem to suggest we will be caught in an upward cycle for some time to come," Lloyd's predicted.

The market also noted the speculation about the polar ice cap melting and warned that a 12 foot rise in water levels worldwide would inundate almost every coastal city. Rising sea levels should encourage insurers to consider how much business they wanted to have connected to vulnerable coastal areas. They might consider withdrawing or restricting cover in flood-prone "hotspots", it suggested.
Terry MacalisterTuesday June 6, 2006The Guardian

Clean Money is when the public finances political campaigns. Polls show that there is strong bipartisan support across the nation for publicly-financed campaigns, especially in the wake of recent scandals involving such infamous characters as Randy "Duke" Cunningham, Jack Abramoff, and everybody's favorite, Tom DeLay.

3 out of 4 voters support a voluntary system of publicly funded campaigns. 78% of Independents & Democrats and 65% of Republicans. This is across all gender lines, age groups and regions.

82% believe that candidates will then win on their ideas, not because of the money they raise. 81% believe they will be more accountable to voters instead of large contributors.
Voters are unhappy with Congress and Lobbyists ethics.

See the movie The Big Buy. July 7th at 7.30 pm at the Blue Bottle Café in Yelm.
Call Florence 446-1230

Austria hosts Heads of State every week as they have the European Headquarters of the United Nations in Vienna. Recently they hosted 65 Heads of State at one meeting with little disruption to the everyday life of the city. Imagine their astonishment when they saw the whole city brought to a close and 3000 Austrian security guards called to protect the President of the United States. As if that wasn’t astounding enough, Bush brought 1000 of his own security team, his own car, ambulance, doctors and blood. It took a 60 car convoy to go from the airport to the hotel and Austrians were asked to cough up $1.26 million for the ½ day event! 15,000 Austrians protested the visit.

Did you know that over half of each barrel of oil is used to make pharmaceuticals, plastics and nylons, and that the rest of the barrel is left over waste from that process. That left over waste is too toxic for them to use, so it is made into gas for our cars. The first process is worth $25,000 to them. The rest of the barrel that is used for gas is worth $250 to them. It looks like we have been conned into paying them to get rid of their toxic waste!

Using Alcohol in a car can improve the cars life an extra 3 years. No wonder the car companies don't want us using it!

Did you know that it only costs an extra $50 on the assembly line to change a car to take an alcohol/gas blend. (It's just a software change). David Bloom www.permaculture.com

Dear Editor
FBI records just came out and show that the crime rate went up 2.5% in 2005, the first time in 15 years. What is the administration doing about it? They are calling for 52% cuts of the COPS program, (local law enforcement programs), and it’s the 4th year in a row of cuts. Now they are calling for 76% cuts in the 2007 budget and they have eliminated ALL funding for hiring. Why has crime gone up? Crime goes up when poverty goes up, and we now have less police to deal with the situation.

Why is congress spending THREE precious days discussing the marriage amendment when they haven’t spent THREE days discussing Iraq, Health Care, Medicare, Gas prices, Education or Global Warming. I know that the amendment is important to some, but given that it has no chance of passing, why are they doing this. They are going to do the same thing to flag burning when they have so few days left to work on important issues.

Did you know that if you agree with the majority of Americans, in the eyes of the main stream media, you are a left wing extremist! The polls tell a different story. It looks to me like we are the center. Why is the minority being called the center when they are acting like extremists? Why are they forcing an agenda that is so uncomfortable for most of us?

IRAQ WAR: In a CNN/USA poll 66% of Americans feel that the Iraq war has made them feel less safe.
SOCIAL SECURITY: In two 2002 polls from the Los Angeles Times and NBC News, both found 55% of the public opposed the concept of private accounts. In 2005, after the president had spent months selling the concept, a CNN/USA poll found 59% of Americans were opposed to change.
HEALTH CARE: In a 2003 Washington Post/ABC poll, 62% of Americans think we should have U.S. government guaranteeing health insurance for all citizens, even if that meant repealing most of the recent tax cuts. (36 of 37 industrialized nations have universal health care – the U.S. is the only one that doesn’t).
DRUGS: In a 2004 Harris poll 60% of Americans favor price controls, In 2005 the Kaiser Family Foundation notes that 70% feel that when the government funds research (which they do a lot), they should dictate prices, not the drug companies.
NAFTA, WTO & CHINA: In a 2005 PIPA poll, 56% of Americans weren’t satisfied with the way the US government is dealing with the effects of trade on American jobs, the poor in other countries and the environment, while 90% feel we need stronger labor laws, 93% feel there should be stronger environmental protections.
TAX CUTS: With a whopping $42,000 going to each millionaire and just $10 going to those that earn under $50,000, it’s no wonder 90% of Americans are against tax cuts
PENTAGON BUDGET: Anywhere between 55% and 75% of Americans, depending on the poll, believe there should be deep cuts in Pentagon spending, and that the money should go to health care, education and veterans.
CONGRESS: As a 2005 poll by the Feldman Group showed, 72% of Americans believe that elected officials in Washington do not see the nation’s problems and opportunities in the same way they do. (Thanks to Thom Hartmann/Air America www.thomhartmann.com www.am1090seattle.com and David Sirota http://davidsirota.com/index.php/2006/05/30/joe-lieberman-the-hostile-takeover-of-centrism/