THE WORLD NEEDS TO CHANGE

.

It is very difficult to remain optimistic and upbeat with all the turmoil in the world at this time. Here in the U.S., we've watched the sad fate of Unions in Wisconsin, the Educational system in Texas being threatened with massive cuts in funding and teacher layoffs, and the devastating floods stretching across the Midwest to the Northeast. The tragic pounding of the Libyan rebels by Gaddafi loyalists, with the resulting Arabic calls for a "no-fly zone" that portends a U.N. military invasion of that country. The whole world is horrified by another act of Mother Nature. Japan is reeling from the effects of what they are now saying is over a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, a 23-foot tsunami; and if that were not enough to suffer, they are also facing a meltdown of one or two nuclear reactors. The Prime Minister of Japan said this is the worst disaster Japan has faced since World War II. I am pretty certain there are many survivors of that war and the atomic bombs dropped on their country. What horror they must be feeling with the possibility of radiation poisoning their atmosphere again. It is hard not to believe the doomsayers that claim the end of the world is at hand! Prayers, love, and assistance 

are in order for the people of Japan.

If indeed the end of the world is at hand, my outlook is that it may just be the end of the world "as we know it". We will definitely have to reevaluate what we have done to perhaps cause some of the natural disasters. The flooding in the U.S. can partially be blamed on the redistribution of our rivers done by our Corps of Engineers in order to change their courses, to create dams for use in powering our electrical needs, etc. The massive hurricanes in recent years have been related by some scientists to global warming and the resulting melting of the ice caps and warming of the world oceans. The horrific damage done to our oceans and the wildlife therein by the drilling for oil and the resulting accidents cannot be anything but our fault. The rainforests are being destroyed, threatening the extinction of more and more of the earth's creatures. There have even been incidents where the injection of waste materials from some mining efforts http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/06/fracking-arkansas-earthquakes_n_831633.html has had to be stopped, fearing that this had contributed to seismic activity in the region. We may yet discover that man's misuse of the earth and its resources have been a major cause of many more disasters.

We need to reevaluate our need for more nuclear power plants in our country. The incident in Japan can be viewed as a warning. We need to take a "kindler, gentler" attitude toward our planet. We've known since the 70s that oil is a limited resource in the earth. And coal is far from being a "clean" energy source. We've had the technology to manufacture cars with much better gas mileage or that run on electricity. Wind power and solar energy have been available forever! When cities can utilize their landfills and other renewable resources to supply as much as 30 per cent of their electricity, as the city of Denton, Texas is doing with current technology, there is no reason this cannot be the solution for the world's energy crisis. 

I have added two more excellent sites to the right of the post: "Anyone Can Change the World" and "Invest in Peace and Security Worldwide". Two organizations working toward solving some of these difficult issues. They deserve our support.

Peace and love,
Marilyn