tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post9073803495812608259..comments2023-12-23T05:14:34.273-05:00Comments on Wit's End: Feckless HopeGail Zawackihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-77397766325796685002011-12-12T14:16:44.414-05:002011-12-12T14:16:44.414-05:00Re the work you are doing on bark: around 1996, I...Re the work you are doing on bark: around 1996, I went to Central America and spent a day in a rain forest with a guide who was extremely knowledgeable about the flora and fauna of the rain forest and well-versed in evolution. He explained that trees are very hardy and, in response to attacks by parasitic vines, develop thicker bark, which prompts the vines to develop more slender tendrils to penetrate the cracks in the bark, in a never-ending process. (It's a lot like the way the tax code and investment bankers behave: the IB's find a loophole and exploit it at great profit until Congress closes it, at which point the bankers and their tax lawyers find another loophole and come up with very complicated financial instruments to exploit it.) However, this process of evolutionary development in the natural world takes place very, very slowly, and I simply don't see that trees (not to mention crops) can possibly evolve fast enough to withstand what is, in terms of the lifespan of a tree and how quickly a species can adapt, a very sudden onslaught of pollution and global warming, and I think your blog demonstrated that in fact, trees are not adapting, they're just dying off instead. <br /><br />Thanks for pointing out that pollution has components that cripple and kill trees quite apart from the effects of global warming. And for seeing through the BS explanations that "scientists" working for the government or subsidized by private industry come up with for tree death.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-19034427816697475992011-12-11T14:17:36.060-05:002011-12-11T14:17:36.060-05:00Yes, Anon, you're right I suspect - I didn'...Yes, Anon, you're right I suspect - I didn't mean people didn't know - I said they were able to IGNORE.<br /><br />Just like people know pollution causes cancer - but they ignore it and continue with the same habits that pollute.<br /><br />It is a facet of humanity that is going to be our undoing.Gail Zawackihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-20460255136435577092011-12-11T12:10:29.488-05:002011-12-11T12:10:29.488-05:00Re whether those in Europe were aware of the Holoc...Re whether those in Europe were aware of the Holocaust, Europeans I know tell me that however much they hate to think that their beloved grandparents knew about it, they undoubtedly did. It's well established that US and US knew about them long before the US entered the war, it took Pearl Harbor to get us to do that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-41858009651641945762011-12-08T19:29:44.776-05:002011-12-08T19:29:44.776-05:00Paul's hit the nail on the head. Corporations ...Paul's hit the nail on the head. Corporations are indeed the problem. I saw <a href="http://www.thecorporation.com/" rel="nofollow">The Corporation</a> the other day: it makes it very clear that the average corporation, if it were a person (and, in law, it is) would be in a mental institution -- because it has the personality of a psychopath.<br /><br />No wonder our situation is so dire. And he's right, that nothing has changed, nothing <b>can</b> change until <b>we</b> correct this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-20589309957109063292011-12-08T19:28:47.762-05:002011-12-08T19:28:47.762-05:00the exponential chain reaction that we live today ...the exponential chain reaction that we live today is the result of what was thrown in the air/earth/water some 40 years ago. also, the lack of direct sunlight from clouds created by intense air traffic is playing its part (among many factors). and the war is already started with Iran. will the chaos set in when the power grids will start to act up (or down?) and silence the machines...michelenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-12965849209288691142011-12-07T18:00:14.127-05:002011-12-07T18:00:14.127-05:00Well, Mr. Sunshine, that is seriously depressing b...Well, Mr. Sunshine, that is seriously depressing but certainly not surprising. From the time I first realized trees are dying, I have struggled with the perplexing fact that almost nobody notices the trend when it so fucking obvious!<br /><br />The only thing I can attribute it to is the power of denial. It helps to keep me a little sane to recall that, in spite of crematoria belching smoke, most locals were able to ignore the Holocaust. And so in much the same way, the holocaust of trees (which unfortunately happen to be the foundation of the ecosystem upon which our lives depend) is invisible to all but an unlucky few who can see it.<br /><br />What can I say? Thank you for reading and your contribution.Gail Zawackihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-88032898630599499462011-12-07T17:24:04.001-05:002011-12-07T17:24:04.001-05:00Greetings from Colorado's mountains, where we ...Greetings from Colorado's mountains, where we presently have over 20mm acres of dead lodgepole pines, some 700 trees per acre ( http://www.motherearthnews.com/uploadedImages/Blogs/Ask_Our_Experts/Pine-Beetle-Damage.jpg - that's a small view of Grand County) ... all releasing unknown levels of CO2 back into the air as they rot in place (nobody's been working on that equation that I know of). you've identified the issue well in this post - corporate "personhood" is a huge problem. Problem is, it's like the trees. The vast majority of the people who visit here, and look right at them, don't see them as dead. most of the locals don't either.Mr. Sunshinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16137274372934160799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-79458244474942238632011-12-07T15:48:03.126-05:002011-12-07T15:48:03.126-05:00Anon - It's the overall trend that is scary, i...Anon - It's the overall trend that is scary, it is so universal and the visible damage follows the same patterns of chlorosis. In the picture of Saskatchewan particularly, it's obvious that the tallest, oldest trees are in the worst condition. Also the picture from Quebec the trees look terrible too even though the experts insist what's killing trees in the west is the mountain pine bark beetle, stubbornly ignoring all the research that shows ozone weakens the defenses of the trees!<br /><br />I'm going to do a special bark post soon. It is remarkable how it becomes so corroded looking, and splits and cracks and oozes sap. I had been thinking this is from some internal physiological reaction to absorbing ozone and/or fungal infections, but it has become so dramatic on every species that I'm wondering if it is actually from topical exposure to what is after all a caustic gas, plus of course wet deposition.<br /><br />arg.<br /><br />Welcome Energyscholar! Please give my regards to Paul if you see him and encourage him to think globally! Naomi Klein has lately been saying much the same theme re: the corporations, but I haven't heard mentioning the local constitutional remedies, maybe they should get together, what a great team! Our movement sorely lacks leaders with their laser vision.Gail Zawackihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800944469843206253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-53911806392574281732011-12-07T14:54:41.014-05:002011-12-07T14:54:41.014-05:00Well that's a pic of eastern Oregon, but I can...Well that's a pic of eastern Oregon, but I can attest that it looks pretty bad here on the coast as well, all the older pines' bark is greying and flaking and their branches are drooping patheticly where before they stretched upward, and all the younger pines' tops are a strange yellow color and are twisting into bizarre tortured shapes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5549306427964459740.post-89020856110435598412011-12-07T14:46:37.242-05:002011-12-07T14:46:37.242-05:00Funny to encounter this. I found your blog post t...Funny to encounter this. I found your blog post through a link from Jay's Peak Oil Killer Ape mailing list. However, I also happen to be friends with Paul Cienfuegos. We both live in Oregon.<br /><br />Nicely said.Energyscholarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16753938365224347265noreply@blogger.com