SEE "AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH"
AL GORE'S RIVETING AND SCARY MOVIE


Al Gore has long been acknowledged to be an expert on climate change and global warming. His book
Earth In The Balance lays out the science, and the dogma of the opposition in concise terms Ever hear some loudmouth conservative say "Global warming doesn't exist?" He got it from Rush Limbaugh and the right wing propaganda Wurlitzer. Of late, Sterling Burnett , of the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) has hit the airwaves, comparing Gore's movie to Propaganda by famous Nazi Joeseph Goebbels. National Center for Policy Analysis has received $390,900 from ExxonMobil since 1998 ... The global warming "experts" on the [NCPA] team are climate skeptics who opposed the Kyoto Protocol and continue to oppose any regulation of greenhouse gasses. Global warming "experts" include Marlo Lewis and Christopher Horner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI)

I mention CEI because they are authors of an unintentionally hilarious group of ads designed to counter the science in " An Inconvenient Truth". I've seen these ads, and they are as bad as a "Saturday Night Live" parody. Watch one here. The second ad repeats the “carbon dixoide is our friend” theme but adds a new wrinkle. It attempts to show that the scientific evidence for global warming is in dispute, claiming a study found “Greenland’s glaciers are growing.” Actually, the study (by Johanessen et al.) found that there was an increase in snow accumulation on Greenland’s interior. Meanwhile, other studies show that glaciers are thinning on Greenland’s coastal regions. This is exactly what you’d expect as the earth gets warmer. The climate scientists at realclimate.org explain:

However, Johanessen et al. were not able to measure all of the coastal ranges. Indeed, the thinning of the margins and growth in the interior Greenland is an expected response to increased temperatures and more precipitation in a warmer climate. These results present no contradiction to the accelerated sliding near the coasts

Expect more of this kind of deception from the right as "An Inconvient Truth" hits theaters.
The glacier ad .

The movie's website has a schedule link that shows all the dates and cities.

The undercurrent here, as we watch the visble reaction of nature to our substantial abuse of the environment, is that we can only reflect sadly on the direction this country might have taken had Gore been allowed to assume his rightfully won presidency.

To paraphrase Sarah Vowell, the lack of the depths of my most pessimistic imagination makes me regret daily that we did not hit the streets in 2000 and fight the Bush appointment with every last breath. If only......

DEBRA BOWEN FOR SECRETARY OF STATE
Debra Bowen is an example of what democrats need to do to seize power back and regain control of our lives. When I interviewed Howard Dean about the problems with electronic voting and other shenanigans in Ohio and elsewhere which cost John Kerry the election, he wisely stated that we need to get control from the ground up. Howard says the key in every instance is the local registrar of voters and the office of Secretary of State.

Debra Bowen has come up through the ranks, first serving in the California legislature in 1992. Bowen has earned attention in the media throughout the state as an effective and independent voice for reform, open government and consumer advocacy. She has declined to accept gifts since taking office, was the first California lawmaker to be accessible through her own state e-mail address (1993), was the first California lawmaker to put up her own government web page (1995), and the first California lawmaker to put her campaign finance reports on the web (August 1995).

At our recent Democratic Party State Convention, Debra won an overwhelming endorsement, garnering over 80% of the dlegate support.

This letter just came in from our friend Steve Cummings of the Democratic Party of California:

Dear Ventura County Democrats:

In discussing the upcoming campaign in November, it has become clear to many of us that one of the key campaigns in organizing that election is Debra Bowen's campaign for California Secretary of State. Bowen has been endorsed by the California
Democratic Party and the California Labor Federation. More importantly, Bowen has been the leader at the state level on the election integrity issue and has been the focal point for activists on that issue. Those activists will play a vital part in
electing the Democratic slate in November. However, first she must win the June primary, and while she has the lion's share of the endorsements, most Democrats don't know anything about the Secretary of State candidates. Therefore, those of you who are supporting Debra Bowen in June, please take the time to write letters to the Editor to the Star and Reporter this week so more Democrats will know about her on primary election day. Thanks.


Steve Cummings

So, DFAers if you need info just email us here at the blog. The BEST thing you can do for yourself to keep our voting system transparent and with full integrity is to support Debra Bowen.

MEET JIM DEAN

Democracy for America



Invites you to a Conversation on Political Activism with



Jim Dean, Chair, Democracy for America


Tuesday, May 16, 2006

6:00 PM to 7:30 PM



At the home of Jay Krieger and Jacqueline Samols
1797 Siera Madre Villa Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91107




Suggested minimum contribution
Friend $50
Sponsor: $100
Or join DFA's monthly sustainer program, The DFA Trust



Co-hosts:
Democracy for America Pasadena
Bev Huntsberger
Anish Korula
Kevin Lynn
Ellen Stein



~ RSVP ~



ONLINE:

http://www.dfalink.com/meetjiminpasadena



or contact Dina Wolkoff, DFA, 802-651-3200 ext. 171

dwolkoff@democracyforamerica.com


I've been to may of these events , and they are really the best way to get some face time with Jim Dean. He's a great speaker, reminiscent of Howard (no shit!) and it's worth the money.

If anyone thinks we could do this in Ventura County, email me because I'd LOVE to host one of these things!