By Doug Porter

A United Nations report being shared with governments around the world prior to publication uses the strongest language to date, warning of dire consequences of continuing climate change.

Human influence on the planet’s climate is clear and having “widespread and consequential impacts on human and natural systems,” some of which may be irreversible, says the leaked draft of its final “Synthesis Report” which seeks to tie together previous reports the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has released over the last year.

“Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia,” the report concludes. “The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, and sea level has risen.”

Bloomberg news coverage counted the word risk more than 350 times, versions of the word vulnerable 61 times, and the word irreversible 48 times.

Here’s the first two paragraphs of the New York Times coverage:

Runaway growth in the emission of greenhouse gases is swamping all political efforts to deal with the problem, raising the risk of “severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts” over the coming decades, according to a draft of a major new United Nations report.

Global warming is already cutting grain production by several percentage points, the report found, and that could grow much worse if emissions continue unchecked. Higher seas, devastating heat waves, torrential rain and other climate extremes are also being felt around the world as a result of human-produced emissions, the draft report said, and those problems are likely to intensify unless the gases are brought under control.

In short, it’s bad; really, really bad news.

Exposing the Fake ‘Balance’ in Reporting on Climate Change

The UT-San Diego posted an Associated Press story about the report, ending with that all-important balancing statement from a climate change denier:

John Christy of the University of Alabama-Huntsville, is in the tiny minority of scientists who are skeptical of mainstream science’s claim that global warming is a major problem. He says people will do OK: “Humans are clever. We shall adapt to whatever happens.”

The story doesn’t tell us that Christy is listed as an “expert” by the Heartland Institute, a right wing think tank with a history of supporting fraudulent science.

From Climate Science Watch.org: 

The Heartland Institute has a long history of valuing the interests of its financial backers over the conclusions of experts. It has campaigned against the threats posed by second-hand smoke, acid rain, and ozone depletion, as well as the Endangered Species Act. With its aggressive campaigning using tools such as billboards comparing climate change “believers” to the Unabomber, Heartland makes no pretense at being a scientific organization.

Heartland’s funding over the past decade has included thousands of dollars directly from ExxonMobil and the American Petroleum Institute, but a large portion of their funding ($25.6 million) comes from the shadowy Donor’s Capital Fund, created expressly to conceal the identity of large donors to free-market causes. The Koch brothers appear to be funneling money into Donor’s Capital via their Knowledge and Progress Fund.

How Bad Is the UN Report?

Mother Jones published a list of what they considered the five most terrifying facts. I’m listing them here sans details, so you’ll have to click through and read the article.

1. Our efforts to combat climate change have been grossly inadequate.
2. Keeping global warming below the internationally agreed upon 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (above preindustrial levels) is going to be very hard.
3. We’ll probably see nearly ice-free summers in the Arctic Ocean before mid-century.
4. Dangerous sea level rise will very likely impact 70 percent of the world’s coastlines by the end of the century.
5. Even if we act now, there’s a real risk of “abrupt and irreversible” changes. 

September 21st, the People’s Climate March San Diego

There a national and international movement afoot to mobilize people in support of demanding governments get serious about dealing with climate change. A massive demonstration and rally is planned for New York on September 21st.

Locally a coalition of organizations and individuals “are working together to ensure that local leaders know that San Diegans are also watching, and we too demand climate action now. We are working to bring hundreds of San Diegans together for the People’s Climate March San Diego to support the marchers in New York and to call for immediate action on climate change here at home.”

The People’s Climate March San Diego will be on Sunday, September 21, 2014. After gathering at City Hall at 12:30 to call on the council to enact a strong Climate Action Plan, they plan to stop at the American Plaza / Santa Fe Station to highlight transportation alternatives, and end at the County Administration Building Park.  View the route, speakers, and other event details.

(See also the article March for the Kittens: People’s Climate March.)

What Todd Gloria’s Reading

That time business said a new law would kill jobs but it didn’t. http://t.co/Vpdf0ltWFC #RaiseUpSD #DontSignIt

— Todd Gloria (@ToddGloria) August 29, 2014

Councilwoman Marti Emerald Joins the Union Thugs’ Club

Signature gathering paid for by opponents of the minimum wage increase and earned sick days ordinance passed by the city council continues. And supporters of the council’s actions continue to shadow these paid canvassers, making sure that people know what they’re being asked to endorse.

The GOP consultant who’s posing as a representative of small businesses, continues to try and play the pity card, claiming  “union goons” led by City Council President Todd Gloria are harassing his people.

Here’s a report from a Von’s store, sent by a source who went along to watch the action yesterday:

Today, Councilwoman Marti Emerald went out to a local grocery story to participate in the Raise Up San Diego Voter Education Program. Her purpose was to make sure both voters and signature gatherers are aware that the Earned Sick Leave-Minimum Wage Ordinance has already been approved by Council. The measure is set to take effect January 1, 2015 unless signature gatherers collect enough signatures to freeze the measure. If these tricksters, who have been recorded lying to the public, succeed, the measure would like be put on a special election ballot in 2016. (Yay, another costly special election!) More importantly, that means hundreds of thousands of hard-working San Diegans would be denied access to sick days and an incremental increase in the minimum wage.

When approached, the paid signature gatherer did not recognize who she was speaking with. How can you claim to be capable of informing voters about the Sick Leave-Minimum Wage Ordinance when you do not even recognize one of the measure’s authors? Emerald introduced herself to the solicitor and told her that measure had already been passed. Emerald then asked to see the woman’s petition and the woman refused to share it. Emerald continued to talk to her and ask her why she was trying to take away sick days and a raise from hundreds of thousands of hard-working San Diegans. The woman kept repeating over and over, “I’m not going to answer your questions.”

The woman then got on the phone and called her boss. Emerald passed out flyers and asked voters not to sign the deceptive anti-minimum petition. As a result, several shoppers pledged not to sign any petitions related to the minimum wage or sick days. This information is at the core of the Raise Up San Diego Voter Education Program.

Horse Racing Wrongs: Del Mar Claims Its 16th Victim

Personally, I’d love to be able to enjoy watching horses race. I’ve been to the track a few times, in Del Mar and a track in New Orleans.

Each time, despite my wonderment at the grace and speed of those beautiful horses, I’ve had this sense of something being fundamentally wrong.  I used to think it was just all the remnants of the old Racing Culture days with people seemingly from another era shuffling about. Maybe I was just being afraid of getting old….

The news this year about horse fatalities at Del Mar has re-enforced my gut check. This morning activist Martha Sullivan posted on Facebook about these dying horses, and I followed the links….,So sad….263 American racehorses have been reported as dead or “broke down” in 2014.

Here, from HorseRacingWrongs.com, is the roll call of dead horses from Del Mar thus far this year.

Del Mar recorded its 16th kill of the meet Thursday morning when 3-year-old Cause Im a Bigshot collapsed and died following a 50-second workout. According to U-T San Diego, she was felled by a “heart attack or aneurysm.” Trainer, Philip D’Amato; owner, Slam Dunk Racing. Cause Im a Bigshot is the second 3-year-old – comparable to a human pubescent – to simply drop dead (Chattering Gambler). Oh, and 2-year-old Mont Saint Michel was found dead in her stall back in July. This is horseracing.

The Del Mar 16:

• 4-year-old Corlett Drive, July 13, training
• 4-year-old Kokaltash, July 17, race 5
• 2-year-old Mont Saint Michel, July 24th, found dead in stall
• 3-year-old Dance With Fate, July 24, training
• 4-year-old Yes She’s Unusual, July 25, race 6
• 5-year-old Longview Drive, July 25, race 7
• 5-year-old Lil Swiss Echo, July 26, race 5
• 3-year-old J Kat, July 26, race 9
• 2-year-old Chilled Mousse, July 27, training
• 3-year-old Chattering Gambler, August 2, race 3
• 3-year-old Steppingood, August 13, race 8
• 4-year-old Serious, August 14, from July 31 race 7
• 3-year-old Bayview Drive, August 16, race 10
• 2-year-old Little Tower, August 22, race 3
• 7-year-old Magic Beam, August 24, training
• 3-year-old Cause Im a Bigshot, August 28, training

Remembering the Chicano Moratorium

Via Latino Rebels.com:

On August 29, 1970, what began as a peaceful protest against the Vietnam War turned into one of the worst examples of police brutality in the history of the United States. The Chicano Moratorium…

…As you watch, ask yourself:why were there so many police and how far have we really progressed?

On This Day: 1965 – Gemini 5, carrying astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles (“Pete”) Conrad, splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean after eight days in space.  1966 – The Beatles ended their fourth American tour at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. It turned out that the show was their last public concert. 1996 – Dancers at San Francisco’s Lusty Lady Club vote 57-15 to be represented by SEIU Local 790. Their first union contract, ratified eight months later, guaranteed work shifts, protection against arbitrary discipline and termination, automatic hourly wage increases, sick days, a grievance procedure, and removal of one-way mirrors from peep show booths

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Doug Porter

Doug Porter was active in the early days of the alternative press in San Diego, contributing to the OB Liberator, the print version of the OB Rag, the San Diego Door, and the San Diego Street Journal. He went on to have a 35-year career in the Hospitality business and decided to go back into raising hell when he retired. He won numerous awards for his columns from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Doug is a cancer survivor (sans vocal chords) and lives in North Park.

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