New year floods in Missouri, Illinois, and Congress still has no clue. Happy new year, Love and light and insight to all.

Elected and appointed officials are not likely to come up with a coherent or common sense long range plan to deal with the worsening issues of water on this continent. Some for lack of a real life perspective of the problem. Some influenced by large amounts of money from those that stand to profit from water, and the continuation of the political insanity in America.
 Any way we look at it, it is a giant problem. In 2015 terrible drought from Arkansas to the west coast, Massive floods from Texas to the east coast. 

Giant dams and water systems are not the answer, but a vast continent wide system of local and regional, small and medium water control systems to store, control, move, clean, and use this water, as well as produce electricity to move this water.

Using Hydrodynamic systems, Siphon systems, ram pumps, archimedes pumps,
Also we must refill our water tables. Agricultural systems like permaculture will help slow flooding, along with infiltration ponds and water storage and control systems to move water to the driest places at the time of great rains and floods. 

Micro-hydro Electric systems for pumping water and electricity.
Ram pumps, for moving water up hill. Refilling the water table of the whole continent is of paramount importance.

First to deal with the water problem we must end the destruction of our water, Fracking, tar sand extraction and so on. Agriculture in the style of war, glyphosate herbicide  also called roundup has many problems,  including binding minerals in the body making them unavailable in the process of turning good fats into hormones.   2,4-D which is half of the agent orange defoliant used in the Vietnam war and known to cause cancer.   Atrazine which is know to cause frogs to spontaneously change sex and to cause breast, uterine and testicular cancer, etc. Many are Biocides and, or  cause endocrine disruption, that are destroying our ocean and the health of our people and biosphere generally.  Industrial pollution and plastic going into the oceans. 

We must have
Many vast constructed wetlands on rivers and streams to remove nitrogen, phosphorus and other chemicals and things like plastic, etc, before this water gets to the oceans.

We must come up with a plan to capture as much of the Methane coming out of the permafrost and arctic ocean areas.

Reforestation of the continent from the west to the east. Prevailing wind is mostly from the west in North America in summer.  Trees are a great way to get water in the air and are an excellent way to suck carbon out of the atmosphere.

Regenerative and restorative agriculture systems. Not just sustainable agriculture.

For a great look at water issues world wide see the WaterWired blog.

Huge volcano of methane spews out of California. Why should we care about this invisible gas?

This is enough evidence for me that we have a problem. To be frank I get a bit anxious when I review this kind of thing. Either way it was created, by melting of a pingo hole in the arctic, or from methane on the continental shelf, it is still and an indicator that we must do something about the methane.  This hole in the tundra, or a plume in the ocean, must be a wake up call. We must come up with some ways to collect this methane and use it. How about something like a giant upside down umbrella or several, that are connected to a hose going to a tanker truck or a tanker ship on the ocean. This can be used for growing algae for fuel, or in agriculture or greenhouses or for heating our greenhouses or buildings, or just used in traditional gas fired power plants. Any of this will be better than letting it out in the biosphere. We have real serious mess to clean up but one of the most important thing is to stop stop the stupid stuff like this. I hope and pray as a culture we can do better soon.

In  the L.A.  area a giant leak from a gas storage facility has been leaking for months. Meanwhile, in California, Governor Jerry Brown  declared a state of emergency  Wednesday, January 6th in the Los Angeles neighborhood where an uncontrollable methane gas leak has spewed more than 150 million pounds of methane into our Biosphere.
It is good to talk about problems, and also I think at this time it would be good for a shift in our thinking towards coming up with and implementing solutions.

How about a national methane company owned by state and local governments. The like of Exxon, BP (British Petroleum) Have shown themselves to be untrustworthy of being responsible corporate citizens if you believe that corporations are really persons. These mega corporations should be prosecuted as persons, and all of there upper level executives for there misdeeds. Any excess money from these ventures can go to a permanent sustainable and green infrastructure. This must be a start to decentralization. Local people will know what is happening and what must be done in their area where they live sooner than a federal agency in DC.

I know a lot of Smart people visit this blog of  Thom's. Maybe we cane find some other people who can help out, or come up with some good Ideas .

Intro to Permaculture the case for Permaculture in the Midwest.

Here is a simple and easy to understand why we must end commercial agriculture, and move into long range sustainable agriculture.
 This video is about permaculture. Permanent Agriculture together in a non destructive method to keep your soil streams and rivers healthy.
A great simple explanation of Permaculture.

It is time for Police to return to scaled escalation of force.

I was watching Bill Maher last Friday and he had a clip of three police shooting a man who had been throwing rocks. This man was running.away and fell down and the three police just shoot him dead on the street like he was a rabid dog. This is totally unneeded in this situation. The man was down and could have been arrested and taken to jail . To shoot an unarmed when down and there were three policemen there is inexcusable. The police did not know if this man was mentally ill or had some other kind of emotional instability.
It is time for Police to return to scaled escalation of force. If someone is unarmed and the police shoot that person dead they should be tried in a court of law. Just because fully armed police are able to kill an unarmed man does not make it right. If someone is shooting at the police that might be one thing but to kill an unarmed man that is down is just outright murder. The officers could have easyly subdued him with little harm to themselves or the now dead man
It is time for law enforcement officers to return to a form of scaled escalation of force. If someone is violent but not armed then the police can use some force to subdue that person. Back when the motto to protect and serve was more than just a motto on the side of a cop car, the police would use a response of force equal to what was necessary to subdue an offender. To go from chasing someone to murder is not a scaled escalation of  force. If some one is using some physical violence but unarmed it is wrong to just shoot them dead. For the police to use some physical violence would be alright in such a situation. The militarization of our police in this country is way out of control.
Since the government stopped taking care of mentally ill people back in the President Ronald Reagan days, and the government shut down most of the state run mental institutions in favor of the for profit health care systems this has been a very bad problem in our country. There are many mentally ill people that should be getting care that are not, and many of these people are homeless and out on the streets.
Remember "Hands up don't shoot".  And how about Eric Garner for selling cigarets. This is not a scaled escalation of force. Mike Brown stole some cigars, this is against the law but this is not a capital offense. Eric Garner was selling single cigarets, this would be considered a civil offense and maybe a taxation violation but not a capital offense. Both of these men are now dead. Not a scaled escalation of force.
How many other police shootings were not caught on camera or just police brutality out of proportion to the actual situation. How about an officer shooting at a traffic stop into a van full of children.
If someone has a gun and is not shooting the police should not shoot. If someone has a gun and is shooting then it could be considered justified to shoot. If someone is using violence then it could be considered alright to use some violence by the police. If someone is running away that has committed an offense, then it could be considered alright to run after them. If someone is just acting crazy then it would be alright for the police to act crazy also, but not to just shoot them dead.
It is time for law enforcement officers to return to a form of measured and scaled escalation of force. This is just common sense. Its time to rational and just forms of  law enforcement.

Do you really care about climate change Mr President?

So Mr President you sounded sincere in your last speech about climate change, you say you care about the issue of climate destabilization?  The remedy is so simple, if we are going to be dealing with solutions and not just problems. The problem of fossil fuel agriculture is destroying or has already destroyed the carbon in the top soil of much of the world. There was ten to twenty feet of top soil over much of North America when the European invaders came across the ocean. 

A return to natural methods of farming like Masanobu Fukuoka or Permaculture based of the principles of founder Bill Mollison can remedy much of the carbon problem in the atmosphere.  Along with the people like Peter Donovan and the soil carbon challenge, or Joel Salatin who was talked about in the Michael pollen book Omnivores Dilemma we can start to remove much of the carbon from the air . The work of  John Liu in the ending of desertification is a very good example of what can be done with natural methods of  agriculture.

This is just a start. We also have to start moving to producing as much energy from non carbon sources. Wind, Solar and of course one of the best of these is Hydroelectric. Not giant dams like the past but hundreds or thousands  of small micro hydro systems in every county and hundreds of thousands in every state in North America. This will not only create energy independence, but millions of jobs. It will also end much of the need for an upgraded smart grid because so much power is created locally. This little ball of wax we call earth was the garden of Eden, and it can and will be again, with a little help from our friends.

Clean water, Employment, food and fodder and an end to Nuclear insanity. Part two.

We have seen some of the hottest summers and now coldest winters in the last few years. Maybe the correct term for what we have done to the climate is not global warming or climate change but climate destabilization. If we need so much energy that we are destroying the biosphere, we can at least do it in a way that does not make our planet unlivable.

We must start producing electricity and other types of power without ruining more of the planet. Wind, solar, bio fuel  and above all water power. Water is the most important resource we have and must be protected. The pacific ocean is now polluted with radiation from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

 We need to start with remedies and not just problems. Pull carbon out of the air and end the methods of farming that take as much as possible from the soil, while adding many types of biocides also contaminating our water and air.    One of the best places to start is to start protecting the soil s it can catch more water and store organic mater with it. Compost all your weeds and kitchen scraps to make your lawns and gardens grow. A long term plan for sustainability.

Return to rotational grazing and long rotations between crops to build up the soil with organic matter to store carbon in the ground and in trees. Tens of thousands of of ponds and water control systems to make plants grow and  make food for people and animals. Vast water project for cleaning water before it gets back to the oceans and to refill the water tables. Tens Thousands of ponds in every county and to produce Hydro power, and for agriculture. Something on the order of  President Eisenhower's Interstate project. Move water to where it is dry when there are floods in one area. Save as much as possible before it gets to the oceans, and move as much of it through constructed wet lands for purification if at all possible. This will create millions of jobs and help create a sustainable future for our economy.

A couple notes here . The green party convention for Arkansas is Feb 15th 2014 in Little Rock.
Like to stay healthy longer check out this list from  Ted Broer who was on coast to coast AM Last night.
Check out this list for best things not to eat
1) High fat meats such as bacon and hot dogs, which contain sodium nitrates
2) Aspartame, the artificial sweetener used in diet drinks and other products
3) Margarine, and products that contain trans fat (use organic butter instead)
4) Shellfish, generally contains too much contamination
5) Junk foods (like Twinkies), and products with high fructose corn syrup
6) Soy products, tend to increase estrogen levels
7) Fluoridated and chlorinated water, act as endocrine disruptors
8) High fat dairy products, and non-organic dairy (have bovine growth hormones)
9) Coffee, elevates harmful cortisol levels
10) Alcohol, habitual or daily use causes problems.
 

Clean water, Employment, food and fodder and an end to Nuclear insanity. Part one

I  was watching Amy Goodman on  Democracy Now last night from Japan. The man she was interviewing said the science around nuclear and cancer was inconclusive. In this case it was about thyroid cancer in children from the area around Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. This is insanity or just an outright lie. It has been long established that this kind of radiation is very dangerous and that it can and will cause cancer. The International community and governments must end this nuclear insanity now. This can not be left up to private contractors or homeless people hired of the street in  Japan. Please see the interview on Democracy Now. We must have the best Scientists and experts on this Disaster Now. And there must be an open and frank discussion and action to end this before it gets any worse.