great pacific garbage patch

March 28, 2017

Pardon Me, Which Way is Backward?”

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Been quiet on the Jersey shorefront lately. As a faithful fighter for the progressive cause, I’m witness to the same unfolding madness as all of you. We’ve now arrived at, and in relatively short order, an incredible confluence of events. Let’s unpack the largest calamities while also highlighting the noisemakers that distract.

The man in the White House, dis-affectionately Mr. Drumpf, carnival barks to his loyal followers. All unfavorable news is a sham, climate science is a Chinese head fake and he, Drumpf, is victim of such hatred because he’s so damn rich, famous, and well-endowed (hands check, please).

Hillary haters, stay united! Who cares the election was 4-months ago? That campaign was fun! And while we’re at it, all you faithful GOP-ers line up & shut up. Your chance to kiss the ring awaits, but first, show me your obedience. Start with a Fox News interview.

Nearly forgotten are the 2 attempts at legalized discrimination disguised as Executive Orders, a.k.a. The Muslim Ban. Cheers to our federal courts, the one leg of the governmental trilogy that seems firm. The “America first” fakery is called out for its blatant truth: RACISM. So far, we’ve dodged a bullet to the heart of what it means to be the United States of America. Sadly and angrily, we cannot say the same for the plight of individuals, heroes and families trying to escape violence. To music I turn. TY RZA.

The AHCA, also known as TrumpCare or Ryan’s ticket to hell, crashed and burned. From this legislative embarrassment squeaks a hint of good news. America is unwilling to sign up for a plan that blatantly injures the weak while enriching the wealthy. Good on you, America, even the ignorant Drumpf voter gave this idea the heave-ho. TY Jared Bernstein for your take on this trump-ian failure.

Russia, say what? Ignore the blaring signals of collusion. Please, pay no attention to Sauron’s soldiers – names like Flynn, Manafort, Page, Sessions, and now, Kushner – who ploy direct links (and recorded conversations) to various and sundry oligarchs, spies, and ambassadors of Russian borscht. Drumpf leaks now a running stream, pee-like. Turncoats line up at Rep Adam Schiff’s door; take a number.

Drumpf family hubris in a single thought: One by one, they have each confirmed their first-class seat on the speedboat that’s soon to crash on the shores of Guantanamo.

But these are NOT the reasons I write. Nearly sixty days since my last post, my fingers alight over Drumpf’s shamelessly titled, “Energy Independence” executive order. This EO takes direct aim at President Obama’s Clean Power Plan (CPP). EPA chief and chief knuckle-dragger Scott Pruitt is now in charge of dismantling, withdrawing, and rewriting the policies of CPP.

From the largest ISS (that’s International Space Station…) peripheral overview, climate is intrinsically linked with the animal and plant world. And for millennia, species-human ruled the land, sea and air. We, collectively, extracted as we pleased. Mama Nature periodically bit back, but never enough to curtail our taking trends.

Over the past few decades, the scales have tipped toward Her. She’s had enough, wants to kick our whiny little asses out to pasture, into extinction. And she can, as she persists.

Drumpf continues to hoodwink the GOP base, while the top 5% of our country (who voted red) are “all-in” on the con. UNDERSTAND THAT HE, AND HIS PROFIT-PIGS AND NIHILISTS, care not a lick about you, me, or the climate. Money and power are their ONLY goal: take more, give less. Your health, wealth, fresh air & clean water get the wink & nod. All the world, and the majority of Americans, know this.

So, what are we – Progressive USA – gonna do about it? Thanks to a number of leaders in Washington D.C., shout-outs to Representative Adam Schiff, my new heroine Sally Yates, and the stalwart media voice of Rachel Maddow, the underpinnings of redirecting our country are taking hold.

And for a serious environmental and climate shout-out, look no further than EnviroNews. They have got our backs, with investigative reporting that calls out the killers and polluters embedded in politics and business.

With each passing day, things are going to get exponentially more difficult before the ship is righted, or “left-ed.” Ya, I’m not looking to give a lick of literal credit to any red-sniveling fool.

Let’s get to work.

‘Nuff said.

Photo credit: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration

January 20, 2017

Trump Inaugurates the End of W.M.D.

img_1972Say it with me people, the end of White Male Dominance is nigh. To me, this is our goal. Thanks to #theDTs 60+ million voters – the minority electorate – we ignited a trumpster fire at high noon on the Capitol steps today. Only one way to go from here. Tomorrow, we flip the switch, march and resist, turn the lights on to a new beginning.

It’s going to take some work, and will include a few interim steps backward. Genuine progress is a long-term struggle. Make no mistake, the fight before us is the 21st Century’s version of the Civil Rights movement. Make no mistake, a majority of that trump minority will awaken to their horrendous choice. I’m thinking by the 4th of July 2017. No one can ever state that progress is easy. We just made it exponentially more difficult.

I’ve quietly understood for many years that, between the male and female sexes, the true dominant force is woman. The giver of life, there is no ‘he’ without the ‘she.’ Sure, men deliver seed. Yet, having witnessed the delivery of my children onto this planet, I will forever stand in awe. Sorry, fellas, we need to hand over the keys.

I’ve also studied a few history books, enjoyed a wide range of fiction, non-fiction, and biography, where the narrative and inflection scream patriarchy. At some point, we must close that chapter on our human story. The male sex needs to accept their notch-down status and take a backseat. Trump and his pending board of directors only reinforce my belief. Their billions will be no match for what’s coming. Mother Nature is our ultimate creditor. And we ignore this empirical truth at the peril of our species.

Specifically, the white male dominance (again, W.M.D.) that propagates our American culture must be shrunk from power. For 350 years “they” have had their chance, and they blew it, bigly, ravenously, and murderously. I’m comfortable stating the obvious, because I am begotten of them. I’m holding up the mirror of responsibility. We blew it. Behind the whitewashed story of our nation’s history are whole populations eviscerated, women and children subjugated, and fellow humans of black, red, brown and yellow skin enslaved. Just follow the money, and one will find white male as the power source of suffering.

This. Must. End. And the first step to change is awareness. So, here I am, raising the white flag, for both the woke men ready to yield and the knuckle-draggers clinging to their final false vestiges of power.

It is time for our female warriors to step up, step into, the reign of power. Imagine intuition, smarts and savvy, empathy, fairness and wellbeing as our modus operandi. Imagine conversation and negotiation supplanting guns and the flexing of military braggadocio. Imagine sunlight and relentless wind as our Energy provider. Imagine broccoli over burgers.

And finally, imagine “real men” supporting this new paradigm. Imagine us dudes standing tall, en masse, with our feminine leaders. “Yes, we can” are words of infamy, only recently unfurled upon the American saga. I say we carry them forward and make them ours. Guys, this is our opportunity to truly be great.

‘Nuff said.

January 16, 2017

High Tide and High Time

The beach in winter is solitude perfect, an opportunity to discover and recognize one’s immense smallness. My largest thoughts will never hold a candle to the Atlantic’s majesty. And I’m a man who knows big thinking – my life goals – which, like the oceans, both humble and sustain me as I forever forge ahead.

My best big thinking pales in comparison to the ideals of another great one – a man like few we’ve ever known. Today we celebrate the limitless legacy of Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. I was only 8 years old on the day of his assassination. Yet his message of empowerment, hope, fairness and the relentless pursuit of justice will forever ring true. I am honored to bow to his greatness.

This off-season, my fourth on Jersey’s coast, I time my beach sojourn with low tide. An additional 40 yards of firm sand delivers my imagination beyond the break, where I, too, walk on water. Oftentimes a long lake forms, moat-like, on the shoreline. In Fall and Spring, I wade through, chilling my toes and calves. But Winter is thick-socked and booted, so I must stay ashore until I come upon a narrow rise in the sandy bottom. My entry to the beyond deepens my oceanic bond. Intentions and exaltations rejuvenate, it’s impossible to stay low.

Reality returns quickly, though. My dreams intact, my heart strong, I do battle with the human detritus that relentlessly assaults our oceans. Plastic bag at the ready which, of course, I find on the beach, I walk the high tide mark – mama nature’s rampart. I collect plastic shreds and Styrofoam wedges wind-blown from a thousand garbage cans. I gather bottles and cans that somehow missed the recycle bin, wave-strewn and rejected by the tides. Within a mile of walking, my two arms and ten fingers are weighed down. It’s a solo endeavor, one I take pride in, to actively participate in protecting Her from us.

It’s high time that we devote our mindsets to cleanup and conservation. Land and sea has given our species much, yet we continually strive to take more. We collectively suck her dry, and the day will come when Mother Nature says, “ENOUGH!” Until we reverse the leveraging of earth’s resources, and become protectors all, our species’ survival is on a countdown. Earth will live on and thrive without us, after She swats us away like an annoying cluster of gnats.

‘Nuff said.

 

January 2, 2017

2017: Sink or Swim

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My dear friends, I believe our forward path is that simple. We either sink into oblivion, or swim together to safe, smart, progressive shores. I believe #theDTs and #climatechange are the two most significant issues we face. Many others I hold dear, but they wither away, as do we, if we don’t STOP #PEOTUS and START addressing global warming.

My trump-lover acquaintances will bloviate, “c’mon dude, give the guy a chance.” Sorry, can’t. Not after learning his nominations for the U.S. Board of Directors. At EVERY level – Education, Environment, Energy, Health, Justice, Labor, State, Treasury, to name eight – the trump-ian kleptocracy can and will take hold, and we lose.

To quadruple down on the bad news, our climate has been screaming at us for years. The national consciousness has collectively responded with a sigh (and snowballs in Congress) to the severity and consistency of catastrophic storms. Our new normal is to wonder “how bad is it gonna be this year?” Let’s query the folks of the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, or Toms River, NJ, or Fort McMurray in Alberta, or Joplin, MO. And guaranteed that many from these neighborhoods voted red. It’s more important to believe a frothing hair monster that “he alone…blah, blah, blah.” Makes me sick.

Exhale. Reboot to #hope and #change. I strongly suggest learning about our climate, it’s more than the 5-day weather forecast. And I vehemently recommend this interview posted today in Scientific American. Annie Sneed (@aisneed) asks incisive questions of Friederike Otto (@FrediOtto) about the growing field of “attribution science.” Until about 2-hours ago, I hadn’t heard of this discipline. Doesn’t make me a loser, and now I’m more informed.

Another doozy of a wakeup call comes from the mouth of Noam Chomsky. Have a read or a listen to his speech and the discussion with the unshakeable Amy Goodman of @democracynow.

I guess my biggest suggestions, no, I’m begging you, to please learn something today, then do something about what you’ve learned.  I do this all the time, and it feels good. And yes, I will continue to pick up other people’s garbage on my beach walks. It’s no longer gross; in fact, it’s gross to not keep manmade crap out of the ocean. Better in my hands than in the Atlantic, or a seagull’s gullet.

I’ll close today’s post with the prophetic 1964 lyrics of Bob Dylan:

“…and admit that the waters around you have grown / And accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone / If your time to you is worth savin’ / then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone…”

‘Nuff said.

Photo Credit: Gillfoto, “Mendenhall Glacier Melting,” March 3, 2014 https://www.flickr.com/photos/gillfoto/

December 5, 2016

Flint is Next Stop On The #NoDAPL Train

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We have the model for success. It’s here and it’s now. #NoDAPL, #StandingwithStandingRock, #WaterIsLife.

“Can we politely ask the Sioux of Standing Rock, and the 100s of Native American tribes who joined in solidarity, to strike the Oceti Sakowin camp and move to Flint for a few months?” This was my first thought upon hearing the news that USACE put a halt on that damn pipeline.

Since my full-day emotional hangover on November 9th, I’ve had a surge of multiple, POSITIVE, energies: empowerment, thoughtful resistance, elevate TRUTH, and PARTICIPATE. So thanks, DT, my one day of the DTs has created a surge.

I refuse to buy-in to “give it up, trump won.” Rather, I buy into joining the fight as best as I know how. I opened a twitter account: @nuffsaid_h2o. From my fingertips to your eyeballs, I can inform, spread the word, #TRUTH2POWER, resist the temptation of accepting a well-versed and well-spouted set of lies and manipulations.

I hold strong and true to the belief that we are a progressive nation. I also recognize that our young American Story has arrived into uncertain and unstable territory. I want our history to show that WE, the Progressive Resistance, stood tall to the tyranny of all money-owned limp-dicks in Washington. Yes, I realize there are a few women-pols who run with the money, but the majority of that crowd is the dying breed: white and male.

Thus, I say Onward Ho! Off we march in solidarity to Flint, MI, then to Hoosick Falls, NY, then to Hindman, KY. The model is set. In order to fix the MANY institutionalized atrocities of ethnic, racial, and gender origin, we might as well start with water. Because, as we all know by now: WATER IS LIFE.

‘Nuff said.

Photo: Thanks to Beatrice Murch! https://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/

November 23, 2016

Thankful, Arms Full

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Beautiful, amazing walk during low tide today, which adds 30 yards of USACE-certified, post Sandy beach (I’ll leave that topic alone for now). Everything feels good and thankful, with squawking gulls and a few salty fishermen wading deep into the low breakers, casting for stripers. ‘Tis the season.

Then the pileup begins:  I notice an unnatural blue hue protruding from the sand as tiny wavelets lap over it – a half-gallon ziplock bag, way out of place. This becomes my receptacle for periodic plastic bottles or styrofoam packing peanuts (hate those) that I always find along my stroll. But today is VERY different, and very disheartening.

I see the shredded ends of some clear plastic blowing in the breeze, figure it’s another bag. I pull on it, and it yanks me back. Pull harder, and begin to loosen plastic sheeting from the sand, 8ft x 2ft. I find 2 of these. I come across the shrink wrap to a case of bottled water and home insulation plastic packaging. Then a 6ft strip of heavy duty rubber is floating at water’s edge, like an eel, only a casting length away from a group of fishermen. I got it, you stay there.

Understand this trash trove would be, during high tide, under the water’s surface, potentially decomposing for centuries.

Sorry, it’s annoying. By the time I finish my walk, I’m carrying POUNDS of debris. With permission from a few home construction guys, I toss the weight into a big dumpster. Feel good about my efforts, yet I have no idea the final resting place of all that waste.

Today’s photo caption speaks volumes about our abuse of the ocean:

“Remember that garbage compactor scene in ‘Star Wars’? Yeah, it’s something like that.”

‘Nuff said.

Photo: Thanks to Beatrice Murch! https://www.flickr.com/photos/blmurch/