Tuesday, November 4, 2008

In honor of my dearly beloved mother


Dear friends and colleagues,

As many of you know, and have so advised, I did something I had never done before, and that is to cut short a tour, which I did to my 6th Compassion for Animals Road Expedition. CARE-6, the first phase of Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)'s Global Emergency Operation (GEO) regarding climate change, runaway global heating and mass extinction, started in July 1, 2008, and was scheduled to last until November 20. In late September, however, I received news that my mother, 89, had suffered a serious health decline. In drug induced delirium, she was heard to call my name. I could not stand the thought of her life-story ending on that note. After some deliberation, more like agonizing, and discussions with trusted friends and HOPE-GEO team members, I canceled all speaking engagements after October 7. After my last presentation in Brooklyn NY, I pointed my car due west, and drove into the sunset.

The first thing I did upon my arrival back in Vancouver was to see my mother. She had visibly shrunken, but her joy upon seeing me was radiant. Thus underestimating her condition, I took her out to lunch, as I usually did before the tour, inviting also my brother Matthew. The result was that I had to carry her from the restaurant back to my car, and even so, she was breathing so desperately I had to drive my car like an ambulance to get her back to her oxygen. That was the last time she would ever ride in my car. Since then, I had been visiting her, each time bringing some of her favorite snacks.

In one of the visits, I brought my laptop, and showed her some of the pictures and videos of my tour, including those taken at the Animal Rights National Conference in DC (www.ARConference.org). She looked at them for awhile, then said to me, "I am very proud to be the mother of the one Chinese man in the world, out of the hundreds of millions, who spoke at this conference." In turn, I told her that many of my American and Canadian friends were asking about her, one of whom even saying, "Thank her for giving birth to you." But, I told myself, she would from then on be house-bound, room-bound, even bed-bound, and that the Lakeview Care Centre, excellent professionally as it is, would be her prison until the day she died. Ultimately, says my soul, she prison was her aging and ailing body.

Well, today, November 3, 2008, is the day. I received a phone call this morning from the care home about her passing - her flight - in the night. Now, she is free.

Before leaving for the care hone, I called Judy and Lori, because they were the two of my friends who have met my mother, and have developed love for her, and have visited her with me as well as in my absence. Lori and her son Clay had visited while I was gone, and last week, and mom had spoken fondly of them. Lori offered for me to come to her place after the care home if I needed company. When I arrived at the care home around 10:40, Judy, whom my mother had adopted as her one and only "honorary daughter", was already there, alone with my mother, in my mother's room. Her eyes were puffy and red. This was my first time seeing Judy since my return. The last time she saw my mom was the day before my return. In contrast, my mom looked serene, as if she was sleeping. I went to her bedside and stroked her hair, as I often do, and her forehead seemed still warm, as if she would wake up any moment. I wanted to take a last picture of her, with her, but had not brought my camera. At once, this became very important to me, so I drove back home to get the camera, 20 minutes away. Sadly, by the time I returned, her bed was empty. The funeral home people had whisked her away. Judy had asked them to wait for me, but they had refused. I was furious. I'd never had much respect for funeral homes anyway. All they left me was the message that I should be at the funeral home tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. for a meeting. Judy tried to comfort me by saying that I could still take a picture of mom in the open casket during the funeral. "No!" I responded almost automatically, "I wanted the picture of her in her bed, not the casket! With you, Matthew and me by her bedside!"

The afternoon was spent tying up loose ends at the care home, while Matthew took care of the funeral arrangements. There was a stack of photo albums, which were the main items. Most of the other things we donated to the care center, including most of her clothing, decorations, National Geographic magazines, a Chinese-to-English dictionary, an English-to-Chinese dictionary, a small encyclopedia in Chinese and all her Chinese movies and music.
I had a hard time choosing one memento, so I took several, something soft - a pillow case, two of her favorite blouses, and of course all the photo albums, which I will share with Matthew later.

I want to thank those among my friends who gave me their counsel and support through this difficult time. To a person they advised me to cut short my tour to be with my mom. Good thing I listened. If not, I'd still be somewhere back east, while my mother called for me with her last breath. I cannot stand the thought. Since my return, these and other friends have been asking about her health, some religiously, and giving me their ongoing support. I do love you all.

Before I left on CARE-6, on Mother's Day, I wrote a piece titled simply "Thoughts on Mother's day 2008", which eventually became Chapter 24 of "Homo Sapiens! SAVE YOUR EARTH" (published July 2008, co-authored with Dr. Peter Carter and Taina Ketola - see www.myspace.com/AnthonyMarr), which I reproduce here in honor of my dearly beloved mother.

Anthony Marr, founder and president
Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)
www.HOPE-CARE.org
www.MySpace.com/AnthonyMarr
www.YouTube.com/AnthonyMarr
www.HomoSapiensSaveYourEarth.blogspot.com
www.ARConference.org
604-222-1169


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Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 13:41:20 -0700 (PDT)
From: Anthony Marr
Subject: Mother's Day tribute

Thoughts on Mother’s Day 2008

I’m within two months of my departure on my 6th Compassion for Animals Road Expedition (CARE-6), which will cover 6 Canadian provinces and 24 U.S. states in 4 months as of June 30, 2008. I’m beginning to feel anxious, not particularly because of the 30,000 km of highway ahead, nor the arduous schedule to maintain, nor the enemies I’ll surely be making at the Alberta tar sands, but that I’ll have to again leave my mother behind.
My mother was born in 1919, so she’s 89. She’s very feeble. She used to be 5’3”, now she’s barely 4’6”, and hunchbacked, and so fragile that I’m sure one small fall and she’d disintegrate like a delicate Chinese porcelain vase. She has no life-threatening disease, but is on 6 or 7 different drugs administered at the Lakeview Care Centre where she is being cared for by a competent and compassionate staff. Just last week, I asked the nurse, “Just out of curiosity, what would happen if the drugs are suddenly withdrawn?” She said, “Her body would probably stop functioning.” And her memory is dimming. She could still tell me about her childhood in great detail, but just last month, she called me asking me why I hadn’t seen her for so long, on the same day I had taken her out to lunch.

Up to now I’ve taken five of these long tours, the longest one covering 42 states in 7 months, with Brenda Davis and her son Cory Davis back in 2003-2004. Every time when I drove away from Vancouver , the thought would cross my mind that I might have seen my mother for the last time in my life. Yet, every time, she was always there to welcome me back. And again, I’m beginning to wonder about the same ting. I hate the feeling, but am haunted by it.

When I go on the road, I try to call her once every day or two, from city to city. And I send her some of the photos I’ve taken along the way, and pictures from the Animal Rights Conference. When I come back to Vancouver and visit her at Lakeview, I would see the pictures displayed proudly all over her room.

The staff at the care centre loves her, because she is easy going and always smiling at them, and would share some of the goodies my brother Matthew would bring her upon his visits. But she has her moods, and has the propensity to need to worry about something or in fear of something just to be sane. And I’m the person she chooses to unload her woes on to. This is one of the toughest things I have to deal with. As an activist I’ve spend my life getting rid of my own fears, until some have called me “fearless”, but then she unloads her fears on to me, and I’m obligated to bear them. I hate this feeling too, especially if I have to do something I consider totally unnecessary just so that I could restore her serenity, but again, am haunted by it. I’m not sure that she realizes what effect this has on me, and from my point of view at lease, sometimes she seems profoundly selfish.
On the other hand, she could be very considerate of my feelings, especially on the conscious level (versus the subconscious "selfishness"). Back in 1999, for example, when I went to India for the third time to help save the Bengal tiger from extinction, my sister had a terrible traffic accident which resulted in severe brain injury. This happened within the first week of my 10-week stay at the Kanha and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves (see my book Omni-Science and the Human Destiny – www.HOPE-CARE.org). When I called my mother during my resupply trips to town, she never say a word about it. Afterwards, I asked her why and she said, “I didn’t want to burden you with something you can’t do anything about.”

Although I know she would love to keep me by her side all the time, she never once tried to deter me from going on tour, nor even to just guilt-trip me. She always says that she would pray for my safety and success. But the way she asks me how long I would be away for, and the way she looks at me when she says it, breaks my heart every time.

On June 30, I’ll be driving from Vancouver , British Columbia , to Fort McMurray , Alberta , the town where the tar sands workers live. The last thing I’ll do in Vancouver will be to say goodbye to my mother. I look forward to the amazingly scenic drive, but I dread the departure because of this good bye. And the inevitable question: “Will I see hmy mother again?”

She was born the only child of my maternal grand parents in a small town in the Guang Dong province of China , but had over a dozen cousins. They all lived in the same extended family complex walled with dragon-back tiles. They had an inland aquaculture business, a river-barge transportation system, and my maternal great grand father was the founder and president of a local bank. They were supposed to be the top-wealth family in town. My mom was also considered very beautiful, and was therefore the target of many an amorou$ young man's attention.

Deep-Tsui (Butterfly Green) was free spirited and loved to laugh, and well loved by all, men and women and old and young alike, and the apple of her grandparents' and parents' eyes. So, when the Japanese invaded China in 1937, when she was 18, and she was uprooted, her world crashed into chaos and danger. Village after village was raided, leveled, and villagers tortured and slaughtered. The Great Nanking Massacre continued for days, the Yangtze River running red with the blood of 100,000 civilians. One of the first things the invaders wanted were “comfort women” (sex slaves). My mother almost became one, and if she did become one, I wouldn’t be here to write about it.

In 1945, the Japanese were defeated, and life returned to normal for the next several years, until 1949 came around, when the Communists swept China . My father was an official in the old government, so we packed up and escaped by moonlight down the Pearl River to Hong Kong as refugees. Since my family’s wealth was tied up in real estate, and since we couldn’t take it with us, the prince (me) became a pauper overnight.

Due to the torrents of refugees pouring from China into the postage-stamped sized British colony, accommodation as at a premium. Our family of ten (my parents, my two siblings, my four aunts and uncles, my paternal grandmother and me) had to be cramped into 3-bedroom apartment on decrepit Temple Street .
Jobs too were at a premium, and, with his university education, but without any knowledge of English – the official language – all my father could find was a sales and bookkeeper’s position in a textile factory. He was paid peanuts, and had only two-days off per year: Chinese New Year’s Day, and Christmas Day – the bloodsucking proprietor being a Christian. As for the other 363 days, he worked easily 12 hours a day. I hardly got to see him, except early in the morning when he was on his way to work and I was on my way to school. I was usually already asleep by the time he finally arrived home from work.

Even working as he did, he still couldn’t bring in enough to keep us fed and educated, so my mother also went to work at the factory, as a sewing machine operator, though she would not work in the evening due to her children being home. I've heard my parents talk, more like fantasize, about starting a textile factory of their own, but they had always stayed with that small piece of security at the sweat shop. It was first and foremost for their three children. They have sacrificed their own career ambitions for their children’s education and future.

The proof of their sacrifice is definite. As soon as my youngest sibling had gone on to university, my parents quit their jobs without delay, and started their own factory, which was absolutely not a sweat shop. A side twist. As soon as my parents began to get their one factory up to speed, the bloodsucker contacted all his clients and asked them to boycott my parents’ products. And a bit of karma. His business eventually went into bankruptcy.

When my parents were finally ready to retire, they sold their factory and immigrated to Vancouver to join me and my brother. In 1999, my father was 86, and he said he might not live to see the new millennium. He did see it, but for only 7 months. My mother used to say that she dreaded my father dying more than herself dying, which was a great weight on my shoulders at that time, but she survived his passing in surprising good spirit, and showed an independence surpassing my expectations. Unfortunately, but inevitably, her own condition has since declined. Today, she can hardly walk without assistance, and can't walk 100' without stopping. I see her about twice a week usually taking her out to lunch or dinner, and for both her and me, it was a chore. But we always enjoyed the dinner with a smile.

But now, I'm within two months of yet another long departure. Would it be our final farewell this time? I’ll say that goodbye when I come to it. Meanwhile, I have another mother to serve - Mother Earth, who will survive me, I hope.

She has given birth to our species Homo sapiens, and nurtured us through the toughest of times, but not only have we milked her dry, we are desecrating her with every move we make, and choking the life out of her with our own extravagance, and destroying her future with our myopia, and robbing her beauty with our greed.

When I was saying goodbye to my mother while departing only CARE-5 last year, she asked me, “Why you?” I asked her back, “To be your son? Or to serve Mother Earth?” And she said, “I’ll pray for your safety and your success.” She will say the same to me on June 30 this year, fully knowing that she may not see me again.

Through my work I’ve met many mothers whose love for their children could not be less. On this Mother’s Day, I express my admiration for all the wonderful mothers I’ve had the privilege to know – Amy Burns (WI), Barbara Metzler (NJ), Betty Burns (WI), Brenda Davis (BC), Carol Barnett (NY), Cheryl Baker (PA), Coby Siegenthaler (CA), Doris Lin (NJ), Janice Pennington (MB), Jennifer Grill (MD), Jerry Taylor (MT), Lane Ferrante (OH), Laura Yudelson (NC), Linda Hone (NM), Mia Narcissa (OR), Sharon Christman (VA), Sinikka Crosland (BC), Taina Ketola (BC), Tracy Zuber (BC) and several others who may want to be honored anonymously.

Truth be told, were I a woman, I would probably choose to not have a child, and I share deep concerns about human overpopulation with many colleagues, but these are exceptional women who bring forth exceptional children who will be the best future leaders of humanity.

As an animal rights activist, can I bypass the mother seal whose pup is clubbed before her eyes, and the mother deer whose fawn is caught in a trap, and the mother whale whose baby has just been harpooned?

Finally, back to our common Mother Earth, whose is now being ravaged by the Six Planetary Diseases (see www.HOPE-CARE.org), all of human origin I might add, I ask all to do this one thing, if you haven’t yet. Please
  • sign the following petition urging the U.N. Secretary General to orchestrate the creation and administration of a $120 billion/year Global Green Fund by a corresponding reduction of 10% of the $1.2 trillion world military expenditure
  • add a strong comment worth a thousand signatures and
  • pass it on far and wide
Now I have to get ready to take my mother out to dinner. Happy Mother’s Day!

Anthony Marr, founder and president
Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)
Compassion for Animals Road Expeditions (CARE)
Global Emergency Operation (GEO)
www.myspace.com/AnthonyMarr
www.YouTube.com/AnthonyMarr
www.HomoSpaiensSaveYourEarth@yahoo.com

604-222-1169

Saturday, November 1, 2008

RUNAWAY GLOBAL HEATING HAS BEGUN - confirmed by MIT findings

What all candidates are shunning like the plague
RUNAWAY GLOBAL HEATING HAS BEGUN
confirmed by MIT findings



CNN, November 1, 2008 - Sarah Palin is inciting her crowd in Florida to chant "DRILL BABY DRILL!", and the crowd did so as if there is no tomorrow. This to me is more frightening than "Dracula", starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, which scared me silly while I was a choir boy back in Hong Kong, even with the protective crucifix on a chain around my neck. Eventually, I dropped out from the Church upon seeing the greater horrors of the Inquisition, but that was another story.

Meanwhile, in 1999, I founded Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE - www.HOPE-CARE.org), and in April 2008, as leader of HOPE's Global Emergency Operation (HOPE-GEO), I wrote that "RUNAWAY GLOBAL HEATING HAS BEGUN".

In July 2008, RUNAWAY GLOBAL HEATING HAS BEGUN became Chapter 4 of my new book "Homo Sapiens! SAVE YOUR EARTH" (co-authored with Dr. Peter Carter and Taina Ketola - see www.myspace.com/AnthonyMarr).
What we did not know was - in which year the runaway began.

Now we know - 2007.
Witness the following Vancouver Sun article:

November 1, 2008
GREENHOUSE GAS
Methane levels on the rise
The amount of methane in Earth's atmosphere shot up in 2007, bringing to an end a period of about a decade in which atmospheric levels of the potent greenhouse gas were essentially stable, according to a team led by MIT researchers. Methane levels in the atmosphere have more than doubled since pre-industrial times, accounting for around one-fifth of the human contribution to greenhouse gas-driven global warming. Until recently, the leveling off of methane levels had suggested that the rate if its emission from Earth's surface was approximately balanced by the rate of its destruction in the atmosphere. However, since early 2007 the balance has been upset, according to a paper on the new findings being published this week in Geophysical Review Letters. This imbalance has resulted in several million metric tons of additional methane in the atmosphere. Methane is produced by wetlands, rice paddies, cattle and the gas and coal industries, and is destroyed by reaction with the hydroxyl free radical (OH), often referred to as the atmosphere's "cleanser".

The meat industry deserves an extra mention as a source of gaseous methane (CH4), a much more potent (by 20-70x) but shorter-lived (half-life of CH4 in atmosphere about a decade) greenhouse gas than CO2. It emits more CO2-equivalent in methane than the global transportation industry by some 20%. It is said that a meat-eater riding a bicycle emits more greenhouse gasses than a vegan driving a Hummer. Thus, environmentalism condemns the meat industry as a driver of global warming (other than the pollution, Amazon rainforest destruction and protein production inefficiency), and animal rights condemns the meat industry for the million of species global warming could terminate (other than the cruelty and immorality), and together, they condemn the meat industry, period.

The greatest source of methane by far, however, is not even mentioned in the article - the methane currently locked up in the permafrost (over 1 trillion tons of CO2-equivalent-in-methane, compared to the 700 tons of carbon in the atmosphere today) and submarine methane hydrate/clathrate deposits (over 10 trillion tons of CO2-eq.-in-methane).

2007 is significant because it is the year in which the Arctic-sea-ice tipping point tipped, when the melting rate tripled that of the worst-case scenario predicted in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report upon which national governments base their environmental and energy policies, in which "hydrate" or "clathrate" was not even mentioned. Little wonder the gross underestimations. The 2007 meltdown reduced the summer Arctic sea ice extent by about half the size of the lower-48-states from 2005, leaving the Siberia coastline ice-free. While the old estimate had it that the Arctic would be 50% ice-free by 2050, now the new estimate is that the Arctic will be 100% ice-free by the summer of 2013. Less ice and more water means more solar heat absorbed than reflected, i.e. the beginning of the Albedo-feedback-loop. When a feedback loop starts, the tipping point is tipped.

And now, the methane feedback loop - the more methane in the atmosphere, the more the atmosphere warms, the more permafrost and hydrates melt, the more methane is released... - has started. And evidently, the methane emission rate has overwhelmed the methane break-down rate, resulting in a net increase of the methane concentration. So, I repeat, RUNAWAY GLOBAL HEATING HAS BEGUN.

Siberia is important in this context, because, as mentioned, its coastline is now ice-free in Arctic summers, and its water is warming faster than before, which warms up its atmosphere in return. While the Siberian offshore methane hydrate deposits were previously covered by ice, now it is covered by the much warmer ocean water. The result is that the land-based permafrost and the submarine hydrate deposits are both melting, and melting faster than before.

In www.HOPE-CARE.org are photos of "drunken trees" in the Siberian forests, whose underlying permafrost is melting or has melted off, as well as toppled houses built on the previous permafrost. Here are two videos, one showing the methane blow-torches in the Siberian permafrost (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa3M4ou3kvw) and the other showing the degassing of submarine methane hydrate deposits (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE1LiftbMeE1).

In climate change, global-warming by CO2 is only the fuse, which releases the methane. The bomb is RUNAWAY GLOBAL HEATING BY METHANE, a time-bomb inestimably more devastating than all the nuclear bombs detonated simultaneously. Once the methane feedback loop starts, the clock starts.

Runaway global heating does not have to be irreversible, but the window of opportunity to act is measured in months (about 100, or 8 years, or 2 presidential terms). It can be controlled by controlling both CO2 and CH4 emissions, while developing non-combustion (solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, wave and perhaps even magnetic, but definitely not ethanol) and carbon-capture-&-sequestration (CCS) technologies. But in order for us to start acting, we have to first understand the situation and start worrying.
I have deplored the "Don't worry, be happy" mentality since its heydays, now I will quote the opposite. "Be afraid. Be very afraid."

Anthony Marr, founder and president
Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)
www.HOPE-CARE.org
www.MySpace.com/AnthonyMarr
www.YouTube.com/AnthonyMarr
www.HomoSapiensSaveYourEarth.blogspot.com
www.ARConference.org
604-222-1169

Thursday, October 30, 2008

A Canadian's view of McCain-Palin

A Canadian's view of McCain-Palin


Burton Cummings' "American Woman" would have contained sound judgment had he modeled her after Sarah Palin.

Speaking of judgment, McCain has said some correct things, but they are invalidated by his choice of Palin as
running mate - i.e. potential US president, the "most powerful person in the world". Other than being an act of incredibly abysmal judgment, which shakes McCain's general credibility to the core, it is the single worst act of political irresponsibility in this elect ion by far, and makes one wonder what future acts of abysmal judgment he would be capable of.

Let's start with the most important issue of our time - no, NOT "the economy, stupid", upon which the entire nation, no, the entire world, seems to be focused, but the environment, people!

In the course of campaigning McCain has said, commendably,
"We have many advantages in the fight against global warming, but time is not one of them. Instead of idly debating the precise extent of global warming, or the precise timeline of global warming, we need to deal with the central facts of rising temperatures ... Today I'd like to focus on just one [challenge].. Among environmental dangers it is surely the most serious of all, whether we call it ‘climate change' or ‘global warming', in the end we're all left with the same set of facts. The facts of global warming demand our urgent attention, especially in Washington. Good stewardship, prudence, and simple commonsense demand that we act to meet the challenge, and act quickly... We know that greenhouse gasses are heavily implicated as a cause of climate change.. And we know that among all greenhouse gasses, the worst by far is the carbon-dioxide that results from fossil-fuel combustion... We stand warned by serious and credible scientists across the world that time is short and the dangers are great ... Some may say that global warming is a hoax, but what if global warming is real, and we do nothing?"

I couldn't have put it better myself, even in my own book ( " Homo Sapiens! SAVE YOUR EARTH " - www.myspace.com/AnthonyMarr). But these are just words. The act, to the contrary, is that he chose someone whose view on global warming would make even
George W. Bush look like a "maverick", who further openly shrugs off all human responsibility, especially that of her own generation , with wanton disregard for all future generations. Such an irresponsible person in the White House would make the USA the most irresponsible nation in the world . What this means in detail I dread to contemplate.

Palin's medieval views on the world is only the tip of her iceberg of ignorance, an iceberg deadlier than the one that sank the Titanic were she also the captain of our destiny. She is a creationist who wants the biblical creation story taught as fact in the science class room, and yearns for a biblical Armageddon. She openly proclaims war (specifically the
Iraq War) as an act of God. She stands a staunch " prolifers", even in cases of incest and/or rape and/or severe fetal deformity, yet she supports the death penalty. She loves weapons, and the "recreational" killing of animals. She opposes protecting the polar bear because it would impede polar bear trophy hunting and drilling in polar bear habitat, and advocates drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. She is under investigation for personal excesses, private use of public funds and abuse of power. She has, as Bill Maher measures, "a small mind". That McCain would risk putting such a person in global power is inconceivable beforehand, and incomprehensible afterward. I could only call it criminally insane.

To make Palin the Commander-in-Chief of the US military machine ( about $650 billion per year out of the $ 1.3 trillion global annual arms expenditure, or about 50%) is like letting a child play with loaded guns. Even more frightening is to let the child play with fire - and that is to put Palin in charge of the US energy program. She would drive global warming into runaway global heating while continuing to denying it and her own responsibility in it. McCain might be secretly regretting his Palin choice and is now just "riding the tiger" (can't get off), but whether he wins or loses it is too late, because he has let the genie out of the bottle, and she is already talking about 2012.

As a Canadian I am concerned about a McCain/Palin victory because with someone who says that to invade another country is God's will, there is very little room for reason as to why she should not invade Canada for "God's resources".

Anthony Marr, founder and president
Heal Our Planet Earth ( HOPE)
www.HOPE-CARE.org
www.MySpace.com/AnthonyMarr
www.YouTube.com/AnthonyMarr
www.HomoSapiensSaveYourEarth.blogspot.com
www.ARConference.org
604- 222- 1169

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

No Homeland Security without Home-Planet Security


Barack Obama owns one car, a Ford Escape hybrid, an American green machine, a positive symbol of environmental concerns and American patriotism. In contrast, John McCain’s family owns 13 vehicles, including several gas-guzzlers, all of which he proudly embraces, except one - his daughter’s Toyota Prius hybrid, which he hastened to disown - a negative symbol of American patriotism over environmental concerns. And while Joe Biden has no need to prove anything to his eminently unworthy opponent, Sarah Palin had to wrap herself in an American flag to make her point, whether she was wearing fur underneath it or not. All in all, the one common denominator is Patriotism.


Traditionally, patriotism is the rallying cry of American politics. The president - the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military with 50% ($650 billion) of the $1.3 trillion annual global military budget at his beck and call (e.g. vs China’s $8 billion) - is not called “the most powerful man on Earth” for nothing. By traditional definition, his/her top commitment is to the United States, even if the whole world burns. In fact, to exploit this commitment, he would let, or even make, the world burn even hotter, if this could increase the "Security" of his “Homeland” on paper. But in this crucial time of planetary crisis, when all national problems culminate in and converge upon one huge global problem, many old traditions need be left on the wayside. What do the presidential aspirants plan to do with all this power in saving the world of which America is an integral part?

If the candidates has any vision at all, he or she would be talking about creating and leading an international task force to save the global environment and life on Earth. He/she would be rallying the whole world to set aside all differences to collectively fight global warming and secure our children’s future regardless of nationality. But their highest level of thinking as betrayed by their own words so far I’ve heard has failed to transcend the national level on to the planetary realm. At no point have I seen a hint of global leadership. It is still the provincial “Homeland Security” when what the whole world including the U.S. needs is “Home-Planet Security”, without which there could be no security in any homeland of any nation. If international competition is still the order of the day, they would still talk in terms of a new arms race against Russia and/or China and/or even Iran, rather than to see which country could save the planet first and best. The way things are going, what this new crop of power aspirants is striving for is to make sure that on the sinking ship called the Titanic, the stateroom named America is water-tight.

Very well, if they want to talk Patriotism, I’ll talk patriotism. If they want to talk Homeland Security, I’ll talk homeland security. This is what I have to say to the candidates.

Some time in the not too distant future, the United States will be under massive attack. This attack will come from both the west and the east, both the sea and the air. Many American cities will fall, much American earth will be scorched, and millions of American lives will be ruined. The American military will be powerless in the face of this total onslaught. This will be the greatest defeat of any Commander-in-Chief and the worst failure of his/her Homeland Security
. When it is all said and done, America will have lost the following cities, in whole or part, to the enemy, starting with Sarah Palin’s own Anchorage and Juneau, plus:

Blaine (WA), Bellingham (WA), Everett (WA), Seattle (WA), Tacoma (WA), Portland (OR), Beaverton (OR), Sacramento (CA), Oakland (CA), San Jose (CA), Santa Cruz (CA), Santa Barbara (CA), Los Angeles (CA), San Diego (CA), Galveston (TX), Houston (TX), Corpus Christi (TX), El Dorado (AR), Pine Bluff (AR), Monroe (LA), Shreveport (LA), Alexandria (LA), Lake Charles (LA), Lafayette (LA), Baton Rouge (LA), Houma (LA), New Orleans (LA), Grenada (MS), Hattiesburg (MS), Gulfport (MS), Mobile (AL), Pensacola (FL), Tallahassee (FL), Ocala (FL), Lakeland (FL), Naples (FL), Miami (FL), Fort Lauderdale (FL), Boca Raton (FL), Jupiter (FL), West Palm Beach (FL), Daytona Beach (FL), Sarasota (FL), Tampa (FL), Orlando (FL), Gainesville (FL), Jacksonville (FL), Bainbridge (GA), Valdosta (GA), Albany (GA), Savannah (GA), Dublin (GA), Orangeburg (SC), Columbia (SC), Charleston (SC), Florence (SC), Wilmington (NC), Fayetteville (NC), Greenville (NC), Rocky Mount (NC), Kill Devil Hills (NC), Chesapeake (VA), Norfolk )VA), Richmond (VA), Alexandria (VA), Columbus (MD), Baltimore (MD), Annapolis (MD), Salisbury (MD), Cambridge (MD), Easton (MD), St. Michaels (MD), Dover (DE), Wilmington (DE), Philadelphia (PA), Norristown (PA), Atlantic City (NJ), Malaga (NJ), Middlesex (NJ), Trenton (NJ), Millburn (NJ), Princeton (NJ), Freehold (NJ), East Orange (NJ) Paterson (NJ), New Brunswick (NJ), Edison (NJ), Plainfield (NJ), Elizabeth (NJ), Clifton (NJ), Bloomfield (NJ), Jersey City (NJ), Newark (NJ), Newburg (NY), Albany (NY), Bronx (NY), Brooklyn (NY), Long Island (NY), Richmond (NY), Queens (NY), Mount Vernon (NY), Yonkers (NY), New Rochelle (NY), Stamford (CT), Norwalk (CT), Bridgeport (CT), Meriden (CT), Middletown (CT), New Haven (CT), New London (CT), Warwick (RI), Providence (RI), Pawtucket (RI), New Bedford (MA), Brockton (MA), Quincy (MA), Newton (MA), Peabody (MA), Woburn (MA), Arlington (MA), Cambridge (MA), Somerville (MA), Boston (MA), Medford (MA), Lynn (MA), Beverley (MA), Lawrence (MA), Gloucester (MA), Lowell (MA), Dover (NH), Portsmouth (NH), Portland (ME), Augusta (ME), Belfast (ME), Ellsworth (ME), and Bangor (ME), among others.

This will take some time to unfold, but it will be inevitable - if the new American president does not do the right thing, much less do the wrong thing, as of 2009. He or she may resurrect or even revitalize the oil-based American economy in the short term, but as Commander-in-Chief he/she will go down in history as the biggest loser ever. If/when this attack comes, it will be inexorable and overwhelming. Future Americans, if America would still survive, will look back and identify President Obama, or President McCain, or President Biden, or, God forbid, President Palin, as not only the worst president in American history, but the worst Criminal Against Nature and Humanity of all time.

The enemy in this case is not Iran, nor China, nor Russia. It is the rising sea level and the sizzling air temperature. Ultimately, “we have met the enemy, and the enemy is us.” In the event of a global ice-meltdown - and given the current "business as usual" scenario it will happen - the sea level will rise by some 70 meters or 230 feet which will drown hundreds of cities worldwide.
At the same time, the atmospheric and oceanic temperatures will have risen by 10oC/16oF or more which could doom over 80% of all species to extinction; those cities and states not claimed by the sea will have four choices - to be steamed or roasted or baked or fried. In the eyes of future Americans, in fact of all future world citizens, the responsibility will rest squarely on the shoulders of the 44th American president, because with this greatest power comes the heaviest responsibility. It is a make-it or break-it presidency. Of the contenders, Obama could possibly be a make-it president, and McCain less so but still might be, had he not shown the incredibly poor judgment in his choice of a running-mate, but should McCain become president and couldn’t last the full term, his sidekick and successor Sarah Palin, who openly states that global warming is not caused by human action, would prove a break-it president for certain.

Basically, for all candidates, it is very simple. Stop emitting greenhouse gasses now or sooner, and America may avert the attack. Continue guzzling oil and ethanol “business as usual“, and he/she will doom not only America but the whole world to this calamity. So be warned, candidates. Your reputation in history, if history itself can survive, will be up to what you do or fail to do over the next four years - the most crucial four year in human history.

I would still prefer to rise above personal factors and stay with terms like “our children’s future” or “the global environment“, or “life on Earth”, but frankly, I do not trust their sincerity in these more exalted and universal matters.
One way or another, I'm just a Canadian who can't even vote, to whom therefore they would not pay the least attention, but frankly, I'm afraid of an American invasion if they manage to wipe out their own homeland.


Anthony Marr, founder and president
Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)
www.HOPE-CARE.org
www.MySpace.com/AnthonyMarr
www.YouTube.com/AnthonyMarr
www.HomoSapiensSaveYourEarth.blogspot.com
www.ARConference.org
216-386-7362 / 604-222-1169

------------------------------------------------------------------------


If/when all land ice melts off, the sea level will rise about 70m/230'. The cities in red below will be submerged in whole or part.



U.S. E, SE & S cities elevations:


ME, Machias (East Machias) - 11m/36'
ME, Ellsworth (Ellsworth city hall) - 38m/125'
ME, Belfast - 26m/85'
ME, Bangor - 36m/118'
ME, Augusta - 38m/125'
ME, Portland Harbor - 0m/0'


NH, Portsmouth - 6m/20'
NH, Dover - 19m/62'

NH, Haverhill - 191m/627'
NH, Concord - 83m/272'

MA, Lowell (Court) - 3m/10'
MA, Glouscester (Harbor) - 0m/0'
MA, Lawrence (Lawrence Memorial Hospital) - 29m/95'
MA, Beverly (Beverly Community Center / High School- 7m/23'
MA, Lynn (Lynn City Hall) - 9m/30'
MA, Medford - 5m/16'
MA, Boston (Boston City Hospital) - 4m/13'
MA, Somerville (Somerville Post Office) - 8m/26'
MA, Cambridge (Harvard University) - 6m/20'
MA, Arlington (Arlington Post Office) - 18m/59'
MA, Woburn (Woburn Mall Shopping Center) - 17m/56'
MA, Peabody (Peabody Institute Library) - 11m/36'
MA, Newton (Newton High School) - 17m/56'

MA, Worcester (Worcester Hospital) - 185m/607'
MA, Qunicy (Quincy Station) - 7m/23'
MA, Brockton (Brockton City Hall) - 35m/115'
MA, Milford - 79m/259'
MA, Barnstable Town (Barnstable Town Public Lands) - 4m/13'
MA, New Bedford (WJFD-FM, New Bedford) - 6m/20'


RI, Pawtucket (Pawtucket City Hall) - 11m/36'
RI, Providence (WPRO-AM) - 2m/7'
RI, Warwick (West Warwick Church of God) - 26m/85'


CT, New Lndon (Groton New London Airport) - 4m/13'
CT, New Haven (New Haven Army Airfield) - 5m/16'
CT, Middletown (Middletown City Hall) - 5m/16'
CT, Meriden (Meriden Hub SHopping Center) - 40M/131'
CT, Bridgeport (Bridgeport Fire Department) - 12m/39'

CT, Waterbury (WQQW-AM) - 81m/266'
CT, Danbury - 121m/397'
CT, Norwalk - 11m/36'
CT, Stamford (1983 Downtown Stamford Historical District) - 6m/20'


NY, New Rochelle (City of New Rochelle) - 14m/46'
NY, Yonkers (Yonkers Fire Station 10) - 36m/118'
NY, Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon Engine Company #5) - 27m/89'
NY, Queens (Astoria Branch Queens Public Library) - 8m/26'
NY, NYC (Richmond County - Stapleton Branch New York Public Library) - 6m/20'
NY, NYC (Westchester County - New York Hospital) - 76m/249'
NY, NYC (Long Island County - St. Joseph's College, Long Island Campus) - 11m/36'
NY, NYC - Brooklyn (Brooklyn Amity School) - 4m/13'
NY, NYC - Bronx (North Central Bronx Hospital) - 51m/167'
NY, Albany (WROW-AM) - 56m/184'
NY, Ithaca (Town of Ithaca) - 118m/387'
NY, Syracuse (Syracuse University) - 171/561
NY, Rochester (Rochester harbor) - 74m/243'
NY, Buffalo (Buffalo Outer Harbor) -175m/517'
NY, Newburgh (Newburgh City Hall) - 37m/121'
NY, Binghamton (Binghamton Public Library) - 262m/860'
NY, Watertown (WTNY-AM) - 135m/443'


NJ, Newark (City of Newark) - 4m/13'
NJ, Jersey City (Jersey City City Hall) - 2m/7'
NJ, Bloomfield (Bloomfield College) - 38m/125'
NJ, Clifton (Clifton High School) - 35m/115'
NJ, Elizabeth (WJDM-AM) - 6m/20'
NJ, Plainfield (WERA-AM) - 22m/72'
NJ, Edison - 27m/89'
NJ, New Brunswick (Brunswick Gardens) - 11m/36'
NJ, Paterson (City of Paterson) - 32m/105'
NJ, East Orange - 48m/157'
NJ, Morristown, Morris County - 110m/361'
NJ, Morrostown, Middlesex County - 27m/89'
NJ, Freehold (Freehold Township High school) - 31m/102'
NJ, Princeton (Princeton University) - 41m/135'
NJ, Millburn (Montessori School of Millburn) - 30m/98'
NJ, Trenton (WKXW-AM/FM) - 22m/72'
NJ, Middlesex (Middlesex High School) - 13m/43'
NJ, Malaga - 27m/89'
NJ, Atlantic City - 2m/7'

PA, Allentown (WHOL-AM) - 100m/328'
PA, Bethlehem (Bethlehem Baptist Church) - 231m/758'
PA, Harrisburgh (WKBO-AM) - 93m/305'
PA, Norristown - 48m/153'
PA, Philadelphia (Philadelphia International Airport) - 2m/7'

PA, Scranton (Scranton University) - 230m/755'
PA, Pittsburgh (University of Pittsburgh) - 294m/965'

DE, Wilmington (Wilmington Manor Gardens) - 6m/20'
DE, Dover (Dover High School) - 10m/33'

MD, St. Michaels - 2m/7'
MD, Easton (Easton Elementary & Middle School) - 6M/20'
MD, Cambridge (Cambridge City Hall) - 5m/16'
MD, Salisbury (Salisbury Shopping Center) - 3m/10'
MD, Annapolis - 13m/43'
MD, Baltimore (Baltimore Highlands) - 10m/33'
MD, Columbus (Columbus Center for Marine Biology) - 2m/7'
MD, Gaithersburg (WMET-AM) - 101m/331'
MD, Frederick - 87m/285'
MD, Washington DC (Washington Dulles Intl Airport) - 88m/289'

VA, Alexandria - 12m/39'
VA, Leesburg - 104m/341'
VA, Manassas - 93m/305'
VA, Charlottesville - 142m/466'
VA, Richmond (Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond) - 21m/69'
VA, Norfolk (City of Norfolk) - 2m/7'
VA, Chesapeake - 3m/10'
VA, Lynchburg - 192m/630'
VA, Roanoke - 285m/935'

NC, Elizabeth City - 286m/938'
NC, Kill Devil Hills - 2m/7'
NC, Rocky Mount (Rocky Mount Post Office) - 30m/98'
NC, Greenville (Greenville City Hall) - 15m/49'
NC, Raleigh (WLLE-AM) - 74m/243'
NC, Greensboro - 266m/873'
NC, Charlotte (Charlotte Coliseum) - 188m/617'
NC, Fayetteville - 29m/95'
NC, Wilmington (Wilmington Beach) - 3m/10'


SC, Florence (Florence-Darlington Technical College) - 38m/125'
SC, Charleston (Charleston Executive Airport) - 3m/10'
SC, Columbia (WAAS-FM) - 63m/207'
SC, Orangeburg (Orangeburg Post Office) - 56m/184'
SC, Spartanburg - 246m/807'
SC, Greenville - 295m/968'
SC, Augusta (North Augusta Elementary School) - 81m/266'

GA, Dalton - 232m/761'
GA, Atlanta (Atlanta City Hall Annex) - 295m/968'
GA, Macon - 113m/371'
GA, Dublin - 67m/220'
GA, Statesboro - 76m/249'
GA, Savannah - 6m/20'
GA, Albany - 62m/203'
GA, Valdosta (Valdosta Junior High School) - 60m/197'
GA, Bainbridge (Bainbridge State Park) - 25m/82'
GA, Columbus - 83m, 272'

FL, Jacksonville - 3m/7'
FL, Gainesville - 54m/177'
FL, Orlando - 25m/82'
FL, Tampa (Downtown Tampa Post Office) - 1m/3'
FL, Sarasota - 7m/23'
FL, Daytona Beach - 4m/13'
FL, West Palm Beach (City of West Palm Beach) - 5m/16'
FL, Jupiter - 1m/3'
FL, Boca Raton - 1m/3'
FL, Fort Lauderdale - 0m/0'
FL, Miami - 0m/0'
FL, Naples - 1m/3'
FL, Port Charlotte - 1m/3'
FL, Lakeland - 39m/128'
FL, Ocala (United Church of Ocala) - 23m/75'
FL, Tallahassee (Tallahassee Heights Church) - 35m/115'
FL, Pensacola (Pensacola) - 31m/102'

AL, Dothan - 99m/322'
AL, Mibile - 9m/30'
AL, Montgomery - 78m/256'
AL, Tuscaloosa - 70m/230'
AL, Birmingham (Birmingham City Hall) - 184m/604'
AL, Gadsden - 165m/541'
AL, Huntsville - 188m/617'

MS, Gulfport - 2m/7'
MS, Hattiesburg (Hattiesburg) - 53m/174'
MS, Jackson (Jackson City Hall) - 85m/279'
MS, Grenada - 6m/203'
MS, Clarksdale - 53m/174'
MS, Tupelo - 84m/276'
MS, McComb - 130m/427'
MS, Oxford - 146m/479'

LA, New Orleans - -2m/-7'
LA, Houma - 1m/3'
LA, Baton Rouge - 14m/46'
LA, Lafayette (Lafayette Public Library) - 11m/36'
LA, Lake Charles - 4m/13'
LA, Alexandria - 23m/75'
LA, Shreveport - 44m/144'
LA, Monroe - 24m/79'

TN, Memphis (Memphis Museum) - 89m/292'
TN, Jackson (Jackson Square) - 271m/889'
TN, Nashville (Nashville College) - 150m/492'
TN, Knoxville (Knoxville City Hall) - 285m/935'
TN, Chattanooga - 206m/676'
TN, Kingsport (Kingsport City Hall) - 369m/1211'
TN, Union City - 102m/335'
TN, Clarksville - 143m/469'

MO, St. Louis (KGLD-AM) - 123m/404'
MO, Cape Girardeau - 107m/351'
MO, Marion - 176m/577'
MO, Springfield - 396m/1299'
MO, Joplin - 306m/1004'

AR, Little Rock (Little Rock City Hall) - 86m/282'
AR, El Dorado (El Dorado Shopping Center) - 63m/207'
AR, Pine Bluff (Pine Bluff Convention Cneter) - 64m/210'
AR, Forest City - 79m/259'
AR, Jonesboro (Jonesboro Industrial Park) - 72m/236'
AR, Fayetteville (Fayetteville City Hall) - 431m/1414'
AR, Fort Smith - 141m/463'
AR, Texarkana (Texarkana City Hall) - 96m/315'

TX, Galveston (Galveston Bible Church) - 1m/3'
TX, Houston (Houston City Hall) - 15m/49'
TX, Bryan (Bryan High School) - 101m/331'
TX, Austin (Austin Public Library) - 162m/531'
TX, Dallas (Dallas Public Library) - 136m/446'
TX, San Antonio (San Antonio Public Library) - 126m/413'
TX, Corpus Christi (Corpus Christi Police Dept) - 2m/7'
TX, Victoria (Victoria High School) - 30m/98'
TX, Waco (Fist Baptist Church of Waco) - 125m/410'
TX, Huntsville (Huntsville Airport) - 104m/341'
TX, El Paso (University of Texas @ El Paso) - 1176m/3858'

CA, San Diego - 0m/0' - 1286m/4216' // 125 of 338 sites under 70m/230'
CA, Oceanside (Oceanside City Hall - 25m/82') // 2m/7' - 459m/1506' // 25 of 30 sites under 7m/230'
CA, Irvine (UC Irvine - 21m/69') - -3m/-10' - 66m/217'
CA, Long Beach (Long Beach City Hall - 9m/30') // 96 of 106 sites under 30m/99'
CA, Riverside (Riverside General Hospital - 236m/774') // -52m/-171' lowest // most of Riverside over 200m/660'
CA, Los Angeles - 240 sites out of 600 under 70m/230'
CA, Pasadena (Pasadena City Hal) - 263m/863'
CA, Santa Barbara (Antioch University) - 15m/49'
CA, Bakersfield (Bakersfield Post Office) - 123m/404'
CA, Fresno (Fresno Pacific University) - 93m/105'
CA, Salinas (Salinas High School) - 16m/52'
CA, Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz Ccity Hall) - 7m/23'
CA, San Jose (City of San Jose) - 50m/164'
CA, Merced (City of Merced) - 53m/174'
CA, Modesto (Modesto City Hall) - 28m/92'
CA, Manteca (City of Manteca) - 10m/33'
CA, Stockton (Stockton Metropolitan Airport) - 8m/26'
CA, Sacramento (Sacramento City Hall, Sacramento Zoo) - 8m/26'
CA, Sunnyvale (Sunnyvale High School) - 13m/43'
CA, Freemont (Freemont Elementary School) - 26m/85'
CA, Hayward (Hayward Park Square) - 4m/13'
CA, Oakland (Oakland Schools Administration Building) - 7m/23'
CA, Berkeley (Berkeley City Pound - 4m/13'); (U.C. Berkeley - 86m/282')
CA, San Francisco (San Francisco State University - 35m/115'); (The Art Institute of San Francisco - 16m/52')
CA, Concord (Concord City Hall - 27m/89'); (Heald College Concord - 7m/23)
CA, Chico (Chico Senior High School, Museum, Post Office - 61m/200')
CA, Redding (City of Redding - 162m/531')
CA, Santa Rosa (Santa Rosa City Hall, Post Office, High School - 51m/167')
CA, Eureka (Eureka City Hall, Post Office - 13m/43')
CA, Humboldt (Humboldt State University - 48m/157')
CA, Crescent City (Post Office - 6m/20')

OR, Ashland (City of Ashalnd, Ashland High School - 597m/1959')
OR, Medford (City of Medford - 431m/1414')
OR, Roseberg (Roseberg City Hall - 143m/469')
OR, Eugene (Eugene City Hall - 130m/427')
OR, Salem (City of Salem - 55m/180')
OR, Portland (Portland Post Office - 12m/39')
OR, Beaverton (Beaverton Post Office - 59m/194')

WA, Vancouver (Downtown Vancouver Post Office - 28m/92')
WA, Olympia (City of Olympia - 7m/23')
WA, Tacoma (Tacoma Downtown Branch Post Office - 26m/85')
WA, Seattle (Seattle Museum of History and Industry - 9m/30'; Seattle Pacific University - 19m/62')
WA, Everet (City of Everet - 2m/7')
WA, Bellingham (Port of Bellingham - 2m/7'; City of Bellingham - 23m/75')
WA, Blaine (City of Blaine - 0m/2')

AK, Anchorage (Anchorage - 27m/89')
AK, Juneau (Juneau - 22m/72')



Anthony Marr, founder and president
Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)
www.HOPE-CARE.org
www.MySpace.com/AnthonyMarr
www.YouTube.com/AnthonyMarr
www.HomoSapiensSaveYourEarth.blogspot.com
www.ARConference.org
216-386-7362 / 604-222-1169

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Illuminating our darkest hour



I wouldn't buy real estate in New Orleans or Miami if I were you, or Richmond BC near where I live, or Amsterdam or Shanghai, for that matter. They are all doomed. It is inevitable. Their decades are numbered.


The ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, and the 2000+ glaciers of the Himalayas, are all melting, due of course to global warming, and at an accelerating rate which astounds even climate change experts. The sea level will rise by 1 meter (3.3 ft) within decades. When (not if) that happens, the above-named cities and more, many more, will be on the seaward side of new coastlines around the world. Even if we stopped burning fossil fuels and biofuels yesterday, this will still happen. If, on the other hand, we carry on "business as usual", even worse will descend upon the world, much much worse.

If/when Greenland's ice-sheet melts off, this alone will raise the sea level by 7 m (23 ft). Some argue that it would take Greenland some time to lose all its ice, but since ice is melting all over the world, it does not take a complete meltdown of the Greenland ice-sheet to raise the sea level by that amount. And when that happens, Boston, Providence, New Haven, New York City, Newark, Trenton, Camden, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, Norfolk, the Outer Banks, Charleston, Savannah, Ft. Lauderdale, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles and Beaumont, to name just the cities in the U.S. east and southeast, will follow Miami and New Orleans, in whole or part, into the sea.

Way before then, however, global warming will have accelerated into runaway global heating due to massive release of methane from Arctic/subArctic permafrost thaw and oceanic methane clathrate degassing, which will drive all ice on Earth inexorably towards global meltdown, raising the sea level by 70 m (230 ft). This will eliminate not only cities but entire states, including New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and eastern Texas - in the U.S. alone. Asia and Europe will suffer even greater losses. Australia will be reduced to a few islands. Hundreds of millions of people will be displaced worldwide, but to where?

By then, with methane generating its own devastating feedback loop, the global temperature will have risen upwards of 10oC/16oF. All these calamities, huge as they may be, will be relatively minor compared to the global loss of habitat and species. Canada may become wetter for a while, but what will be left of the U.S. will have little agricultural value, where famine will devour the ex-beef-guzzlers. The great Amazon Rainforest will have become the great Amazon Desert, all 7 million species down the drain. The Sahara may become greener, but sub-Sahara Africa will dry out even more, all its magnificent wildlife a mere memory. The six rivers fed by the Himalayan glaciers, upon which 2 billion people depend, will dwindle to seasonal rain-driven flash floods at best. The oceans will have become so hot and acidic that over 90% of all marine species will have disappeared. The only "better" outcome would be an energy-oriented WW3, where quick death replaces prolonged agony.

Some with deficiencies in knowledge or foresight or altruism or conscience, or all of the above, whether or not they have children of their own, are often heard to say, "Even if all this will happen, it won't do so for decades and centuries, and certainly not in my lifetime, so why should I be concerned? What does it have to do with me today?"

I say to them, as bluntly as I can, that if we have one chance in a thousand at all to prevent this from happening, the time to take it is now. We have a window of opportunity no wider than 8 years (100 months), or two political terms, to set a new course for humanity. We have neither the time, nor the political terms, to waste. What this coming new presidency will do or won't do will determine the entire future of humankind, the survival of millions of species, and life on Earth itself.

And what do the candidates have in store for us that we can see? More of the same, or, given the likes of the despicable Sarah Palin, probably much worse. None of them, regardless of party, has a long term comprehensive plan that can take us out of the enormous hole we have dug for ourselves, but instead will likely allow the criminals against nature to drag the rest of us into even lower depths. Their populist approach makes them cowardly followers of the lowest common denominator of ignorance and greed, not visionary leaders by the knowledge and wisdom of our best and brightest.

Before this window of opportunity closes and shuts out our future forever, our best and brightest must shine for what they are worth to illuminate our only viable path in this our darkest hour.


Anthony Marr, founder and president
Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)
www.HOPE-CARE.org
www.MySpace.com/AnthonyMarr
www.YouTube.com/AnthonyMarr
www.HomoSapiensSaveYourEarth.blogspot.com
www.ARConference.org
216-386-7362 / 604-222-1169

Thursday, September 18, 2008

HOPE-GEO's CARE-6 tour field journal #9

Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)'s
Global Emergency Operation (GEO)'s
Compassion for Animals Road Expedition #6 (CARE-6)

Field Journal #9
(Also in my blog site www.HomoSapiensSaveYourEarth.blogspot.com)

September 14, 2008

Since the AR Conference, I've been to Pennsylvania (e.g. Allentown) and New Jersey (e.g. Freehold) to give a few presentations, and am now back in Charlotte's place in St. Michaels, Maryland. Following are the new developments:

1. HOPE-GEO has changed focus to target secondary schools as of September. The HOPE-GEO team has been developing school databases and contacting the principals, aiming for talks starting around mid-September.

2. Another new focus is the mayors of U.S. cities. Recall that back in May this year in Florida the Conference of U.S. Mayors, involving several hundred mayors from across the country, resolved to ban the use of Alberta-tar-sands-derived gasoline in their city vehicular fleets. The objective of this new focus is to induce more U.S. mayors to sign on to this resolution. So, the HOPE-GEO team has also been compiling a database of the mayors of the cities in the states I'll be traversing for the rest of the tour, and started sending exploratory emails to their offices.

3. A special focus of this is to target the cities on the seaward side of the new coastline given a certain amount of sea-level rise due to global warming - e.g. 7 meters (23 ft.) if the Greenland ice-sheet melts off (which of course won't happen in isolation - with the mountain glaciers and the Antarctic ice-shelves melting along with it, raising the sea-level even higher). If all the land ice has melted off, the sea level would be some 100 meters or 330 ft higher than today's. I'm calling this outreach the Future-Submerged-Cities Tour. If we use this ultimate figure of total global ice meltdown, almost all the states in the US east coast, southeast and south coasts would be submerged. This should have media potential.

4. To expand the media potential, HOPE-GEO could tie a line of ribbons (the survey type) along the new coastline. The local papers in all the cities along the ribbon-line, and of course those on the seaward side of it, should be interested.

5. Since the beginning of the tour on July 1, I've taken some 300GB's worth of videos: of the fly-over of the Alberta tar sands, of Taina Ketola interviewing me while I was driving to and from the tar sands through British Columbia and Alberta, my lectures to various audiences from states to state, and my 13 speeches at the Animal Rights National Conference. It does our children, the animals and the Earth no good to have the footage sitting in my external hard-drive. So, I spent the last 2 weeks self-teaching video conversion, video editing and video launching on to YouTube and MySpace, starting from a know-nothing position. My initial impulse was to send the raw videos in DVD or flash-drive forms to a volunteer who knows what he/she is doing, but eventually I arrived at the position of wanting to do it myself. First thing I found out was that most video editing and conversion programs require at least 2GB RAM, some say 3GB, for enough power to process video, in which light my old laptop, with only a 512MB RAM and a near-full 70GB hard-drive, was entirely inadequate. I tried it and it was indeed a video-snail. So I went shopping, and got a Toshiba with a 2GB RAM and a 250GB hard-drive ($490 @ Best Buy). As of day before yesterday, I've begun uploading videos on to YouTube, beginning with 2 events at the AR2008 conference (the Sharon Christman song and my plenary speech Acting Globally, both in lo-res), then 16 segments of my flight over the tar sands, followed by several of my other conference sessions plus the Christman song and my plenary again, but in hi-res). Now I've loaded about half of my dozen AR2008 speeches (usually maximum 12 minutes each - ideal for YouTube). I'll upload the rest of the speeches in the coming days, plus some of my interviews while driving to and from the tar sands. To view the videos go to www.YouTube.com and search for "Anthony Marr"; they should all appear. And keep checking over the next weeks. Now is the time to beginning publicising the videos.

6. Future bookings are trickling in, including a presentation in Middlesex NJ on Oct. 4 (Steve Ember, whose functions are often well attended), one in Lower Manhattan NY on Oct. 9 (Adam Weissman, Wetlands Preserve), and one in Bethlehem PA, date to be determined.

More later

Anthony



Anthony Marr, founder
Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)
www.HOPE-CARE.org
www.MySpace.com/AnthonyMarr
www.ARConference.org