A Cheaper Way to Save the Planet

Venus Loop (now available at Lillibridge Press:  http://www.lillibridgepress.com) is a science fiction novella which tells the hypothetical tale of how a civilization on the planet Venus destroyed itself through industrial pollution resulting in global warming.  If present alarming trends in carbon emissions here on Earth are not curtailed soon, a similar fate may loom ahead for us in the real world.  Recent violent tornadoes sweeping a path of devastation across the southern United States are but the latest in a series of record-breaking storms, floods and droughts that are the harbingers of an escalating climate change disaster that has already changed our world and could someday destroy it.

Recent United Nations reports indicate industrial carbon emissions are at an all-time high.  But, many people still wonder what any of us can do to take on such a vast and far-reaching problem.  Well, there might be a surprisingly simple way to start:  Tax the use of fossil fuels.

 Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA) has introduced the Save Our Climate Act (H.R. 3242.)This legislation would levy a carbon tax on fossil fuels.  See:


  http://stark.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2304:press-release-stark-introduces-carbon-tax-bill-to-reduce-emissions-deficit&catid=82:press-releases-2011&Itemid=62


Congressman Stark is to be congratulated for taking so bold and direct an approach to so critical a problem.  


The controversial cap-and-trade approach to reducing carbon emissions has been only moderately successful in Europe and is essentially at the mercy of market volatility.  But, a direct tax on fossil fuels which would cut money out of the profits of big coal and oil companies and give them back to the American energy consumers for a change, is a far simpler, more direct and more reliable way to push our economy toward clean energy development and away from our dangerous and costly dependence on foreign oil.  If implemented, the Save Our Climate Act would, over the course of decades, reduce our country's carbon emissions dramatically, stabilizing our climate and environment with no harm to our economy.  The revenue resulting from such a tax would be enormous.  And, it  would be paid in a dividend to individual consumers, helping them to meet increased fuel and energy prices.  In short, the rich would get poorer and the poor richer for once, we wouldn't have to keep wasting precious lives and resources on wars over middle-eastern oil, and the ecological future of this planet would be secured for future generations.


Clean, renewable energy is definitely the future of this planet.  Studies have shown that wind-driven energy alone generates far more jobs than the coal-fired plants that dominate so much of our energy market now.  Mainland China is rapidly innovating toward the development of clean, renewable energy sources.  At this rate, China could become a global leader in the energy production of the future.  If the U.S. is not to be left behind in the dangerously antiquated world of fossil fuels, then let us revive the spirit of American competition through ingenuity and scientific innovation by gearing our economy toward safer, cleaner forms of lasting energy.  The technology is already largely within reach. If new technologies need to be developed, so much the better; America is at its best and employs the most people when we forge ahead into new realms of technological innovation.

Venus Loop at Lillibridge

http://www.lillibridgepress.com

Hey, Science Fiction fans --

Care to visit the planet Venus in a time period 400 million years ago?

A world of bizarre intelligent life forms, alien civilizations,  telepaths, time travel and robots?

Check out my latest SF novella Venus Loop, now available at Lillibridge Press:

http://www.lillibridgepress.com

Lillibridge Press, for excellent and unusual reading matter -- Science Fiction and far more!

Vampire Review - Soldiers of the Night

Check out my guest blog post at Vampire Review:
http://networkedblogs.com/px2eT

If you love vampire and horror fiction, that's a blog you'll definitely want to visit!

Buy link for Unholy Alliance:
http://www.eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781770650343

Second American Revolution?

http://www.lillibridgepress.com/book/Flags

"Flags" is a science fiction dealing with civil war and divided societies in the far future.  But, such stark divisions appear to be forming right now, in the real world.  Born not entirely out of racial and cultural strife, as depicted in "Flags," but primarily out of economic divisions and resulting class strife.

The angry, frustrated people rise up in the streets.  Occupy Wallstreet.  Occupy Boston.  Occupy the banks and the neighborhoods of the wealthy.  There is no violence.  Not yet, at least.  But, there is clearly anger fueled by frustration, and no sign of it's abating soon.  Is this merely a random convulsion symptomatic of hard times?  Or, is it something far more basic?  Have we finally reached the wall of unregulated capitalism?  I would say 'yes.'

When the lion's share of the wealth is concentrated in the hands of the few, when those "too big to fail" do inevitably fail, collapsing of their own bloated weight and the economy collapses with them, then the dominos of social change must begin to fall.  As with any revolution, this one starts with the young and educated.  Recent college graduates who step out into the real world and for all their hard work find no jobs waiting for them feel betrayed.  And, they have a right to.  They are joined inevitably by others.  Peace activists and grieving families tired of war.  Unions who feel threatened and exploited as their collective bargaining rights come under attack.   There is no single, unifying message, creed or manifesto to this "uprising," if that's what it is.  But, the common, visceral mood is clear:  The status quo is not working; those in power are not serving the national interest; it's time for a change.


This has been building for the past few years.  It started when the economy collapsed in the waning days of the George W. Bush administration.  Hope was lacking, the people were hungry for change, and they voted for it in the person of Barack Obama.  But, as always, Americans expect, quick, easy fixes for their problems.  When Obama couldn't deliver jobs and recovery quickly and easily (thanks in no small part to Congressional opposition from stubborn and recalcitrant Republicans who care more about political ideology and allegiances than about the long-term stability of the country) the people were quick to blame the incumbent administration.  The right-wing reactionary movement known as the Tea Party arose, fueled by thinly-veiled racism and right-wing sponsored propaganda.  Such reactionary populist movements are a knee-jerk reaction to hard times; it's easy to blame the government (after all, we can vote them out.)


But, as the recession continues, the Obama-bashing and "anti-socialist" nonsense of the Tea Party could not continue to drain the collective energy of the people.  Inevitably, the people have begun to recognize the real enemy; the unregulated, obscene hoarding of wealth by ruling strata with an over-indulged sense of entitlement.  For the first time since the days of the Vietnam war, the people (largely, the young) take to the streets in massive numbers, to the point where the police have a problem simply containing the protests.  Protests that have grown far too large to ignore.  It has been long since the country (and, for that matter the world) has been so divided, and so energized.  Neither side offers concrete solutions.


But, one thing is clear:  The banks and corporations who condemn as "socialism" and "class warfare" any attempt at government regulation have no right to demand bail-outs (corporate welfare) at the people's expense, then spend the people's hard-earned tax dollars on bonuses while continuing to ship American jobs overseas.  Those who whine that taxing the rich is not the answer, that we shouldn't punish the wealthy for being successful are missing the larger lesson of history.  As we learned in the 1920's, in the age of the corporate robber barons, capitalism is a beast whose insatiable hunger must meet limits.  Otherwise, the beasts grow too large, devouring the smaller ones until we can no longer afford to feed them at all.  Until there is only one beast whom we cannot hope to control or even survive.  In an age when multi-national corporations are powers unto themselves, owing allegiance to no nation or people, yet demanding both the individual's right to free speech and the worker's hard-earned tax money while giving nothing in return...democracy is in peril of extinction.   In its stead may arise a hideous form of lawless corporate slavery once reserved to the darker pages of science fiction.


The fight for this world's future may well be waged in the streets, by a people who will no longer be food for the beast.

Darkness Embraced

Attention, lovers of all things dark, pagan and vampiric:


Check out one terrific site:  Darkness Embraced at:  http://www.darknessembraced.com  for some deliciously dark artwork and fascinating articles.


You can find my article "Dark Reflections" in the Vampire Mythology section.





And, one more thing:  Please check out my vampire novelette "Unholy Alliance" at Eternal Press or Amazon.com.
http://www.eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781770650343

Pleasant screams

Death Machine

The last earthly sight ever seen by Al-Qaida cleric Anwar al-Awlaki was a U.S. predator drone; a remote-controlled death machine from the sky... something once reserved to science fiction.  Even as some Americans gleefully rejoice in the high-tech extra-judicial execution of a suspected enemy, others wonder fearfully what implications this assassination may bode for the future of our nation and the world.


http://www.lillibridgepress.com/book/Flags

Who was this man who our president assumed the moral authority to kill with the touch of one button?  Anwar al-Awlaki was a U.S. citizen born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents.  Considered a militant Islamic cleric al-Awlaki was reputedly a powerful figure within al-Qaida, accused of recruiting and "inspiring" young men to carry out acts of terrorism against the United States.  Acts like the Christmas 2009 attempt to blow up an American airliner bound for Detroit.

al-Awlaki was a powerfully motivational speaker whose Internet sermonizing called for Jihad against the U.S.  But, U.S. intelligence officials claim he did more than just preach and inspire; they believe he took a more direct role in carrying out terrorist activities.

Now, we'll never know.  Because, the accused terrorist was never brought to trial.  He was declared too dangerous to live and ordered killed by a machine.  Because the president of the United States, and a handful of generals said he deserved to die.  Perhaps they were right.  Then again...who's next??  If anyone...U.S. citizen or no... can be deemed dangerous to U.S. national security, simply by virtue of preaching or stating an opinion deemed to be "inflammatory" or "anti-American" and on the basis of that sentenced to death by the autocratic command of a general or president...then what has America become?  And, who is safe?  

Science has provided us with mechanical executioners that can kill anyone anywhere in the world.  No trial.  No counsel.  No presumption of innocence.  No jury.  Just a government official who with a pushbutton can eliminate anyone anywhere in the world.  What a feeling of almost godlike power we risk instilling in our leaders by allowing such power to exist.

If such weapons can be sent to kill Americans in other nations without due process, what is there to prevent the same being done on American soil?  Ron Paul criticized the assassination, citing a dangerous precedent.  For that, his public support drastically dropped off.  Could someone like Ron Paul therefore be declared a "potentially disruptive element" and be targeted for remote-controlled execution?

Now that we have "smart bombs" and other machines that kill, quickly and efficiently the world over...now that law and due process have been abandoned in cases deemed a threat to national security...how long will it be before the decision of who lives and who dies is made by computers in the Pentagon?  How long before autonomous robotic machines programmed to designate and "neutralize" perceived threats to national security have the power of life and death over all of us?

First, presidents with the power to wage war without Congressional approval.  Now, presidents with the power to kill anyone any where in the world at will.  What next?  War turns us all into monsters.  Will the machines we create to wage those wars someday become the masters of our fate?

War and Remembrance

As we commemorate the 10th anniversary of the most horrendous terrorist attack of our nation's history, many reflections, dark and deep pass through our collective consciousness.

http://www.lillibridgepress.com/book/Flags

Recollections of loved ones lost.  Shattered complacency.  Haunting images burned forever into our national psyche.  We ask ourselves over and over if we could have prevented it.  If we can stop it from happening again.  We reflect on the test to our national resiliency and character.  We calculate (or try to) what we lost that terrible day, how well (or poorly) we responded, and what we've gained (if anything) in strength and hard-earned wisdom.

All important and natural parts of the healing process.  But, as we seem to loop back in time to that hellish moment, seemingly frozen there yet again like flies in amber, do we reflect on the thousands more who've died since then?  Of the thousands interred not under tons of fallen rubble, but in flag-draped coffins?  And, what of the tens of thousands more in Iraq and Afghanistan killed in wars that perhaps should never have been waged?



Iraq was a war fought not for our national security, but over oil, power and revenge, for grievances that predated the 9/11 attacks by several years.  Yet, it was fought under the pretext of forestalling another 9/11, and like any war, it fed on the irrational and maddening fear of the public.  And, the war dragged on, death after senseless death, until the public's fear subsided, their anger cooled, and we all forgot the reason the war started.  Now, as we withdraw from Iraq at long last, suicidal, murderous violence erupts there again.  The madness of hatred seems never to end.

Many would say our mission in Afghanistan is far more pure.  It is, after all, the country from which the 9/11 attacks were launched.  And, no one, least of all the Afghan people, wants to see the extremist brutality of the Taliban continue.  But, as the wars drag on, with no end in sight, a line of bodies stretching out into seeming dark infinity, should we reflect less on our own pain, and more on how we became mired in the madness to begin with?  The answer to that question (if there is one) goes back more than a century, to when we first began exploiting the middle-east for its oil.  Oil.  That alluring black poison whose addictive hold over our economy we must break.  In trying to establish "stability" in the middle-east (stability meaning our continued ability to control the oil there) we have supported corrupt and repressive regimes, only to see them fall with tragic consequences, as in Iran, fueling hatred of America, which in turn fuels terrorism.  And now, as the great enigma of the "Arab Spring" rises, we must re-examine our role in that terrifying and rapidly changing part of the world.  President Obama and the NATO Alliance deserve praise for militarily supporting the brave Libyan rebels who overthrew the tyrant Muamar Khadafi.  But, what comes next?  Can the nations of the west work together with the emerging fledgling democracies of the middle-east to eradicate those conditions of social and economic injustice in which terrorism thrive?  Or, does hatred stand between us still?

What, ultimately, are America's defining values and goals as we look back over the first decade since 9/11?  It is to our credit as a nation that there has been no massive backlash against Muslims in America (as there might have been in other countries.)  But, the hatred is there, all the same, festering in the shadowed corners.  Islam in any organized form is often met with condemnation in America.  Implicit in the intolerance is a feeling that Islam itself is to blame for 9/11, not a few twisted individuals.  And, the ever-present danger to our precious civil liberties rising out of potentially extremist security regulations remains as dire a threat to our way of life as any terrorist attack.  Are we doomed never to heal?  To keep our wounds green forever?  And, as we look to the dead of 9/11 again and again, have we become desensitized to the new martyrs whose names and faces nightly cross our television screens as the war grinds on and on?

At some point, the mourning must end.  and we must look to the living.  The next generation should not inherit a war whose meaning lay lost in the ashes, and whose goals lay buried in the bloodied sands.