Wednesday 14 May 2014
Letter # 381
Dear President Obama,
Gee, the top-paid 25 hedge fund managers in the US were “compensated” $21 billion in 2013. https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/05/06/hedge-fund-moguls-pay-has-the-1-looking-up/?_r=0
That’s close to $1 billion each. It is beyond comprehension that these 25 men (I think they are all men) believe they are worth this much more than other mortals. It is also beyond comprehension that they don’t pay INCOME tax on this windfall, but the lower “capital gain” tax rate. So let’s start a Carbon Trust Fund. Those with “compensation” of $10 million or more annually, will contribute 50% of their “compensation” over that amount to a fund for future inhabitants of Planet Earth to keep disastrous effects of climate change to a minimum. Gee. We could start that fund with about $10 billion this year! That would bring the “cost” of solar and wind power way down, if spent appropriately. And remember this isn’t a tax or income redistribution. This is a trust fund from excess “compensation.” So, in the meantime, please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline – because you can do THAT today. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Want Carbon Trust Fund
Thursday 15 May 2014
Letter # 382
Dear President Obama,
Well Toyota is abandoning its partnership with Tesla. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/business/energy-environment/seeing-future-in-fuel-cells-toyota-ends-tesla-deal.html
The electric RAV4 didn’t sell well enough at the price they wanted, so they now say the future of zero-emission vehicles is hydrogen fuel cells. Toyota plans to introduce a hydrogen car in CA next year, but it also has to develop the hydrogen refueling stations to go with the car! Well that’s a long term proposition! Toyota came late to the electric car product, so is quitting. I hope history shows that they are making the wrong decision – but we’ll have to wait a decade or so to see. You are definitely making the wrong decision in not pushing more aggressively a robust plan to lessen carbon emissions! And we don’t have to wait decades to find that out! Climate change is here NOW! Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline today as a small step showing how serious you are about cutting carbon pollution. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Toyota should keep Making Electric Cars
Tuesday 20 May 2014
Letter # 383
Dear President Obama,
On May 9th the Chinese shot water cannons at Vietnamese boats 120 miles from Vietnam and 100 miles from China. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/09/world/asia/china-and-vietnam.html
At issue is a giant oil rig China is trying to put in place. This is clearly bullying by China and now there is a stand-off.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/10/world/asia/in-high-seas-china-moves-unilaterally.html
ASEAN refused to censure China because some members don’t want to upset China.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/12/world/asia/vietnam.html
Yet another conflict over resources and yet another large country making bad ecological choices. Since large countries consume more resources, they have an obligation to make better decisions. I can’t do much to get China to give up fossil fuels, but I can certainly try to get the US to take the right path! Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline Right Now!! and get us started on a rapid switch to renewable energy sources. Let’s cut back quickly on carbon pollution. We can do this. But someone needs to show LEADERSHIP! You can be that leader! Leaders lead by example, not by bullying. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, China is a Bully
Wednesday 21 May 2014
Letter # 384
Dear President Obama,
My son graduated from college this week and Frontline aired their compelling documentary on NSA civilian spying: “The United States of Secrets.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTwdlZFTuck
As a graduation present, I gave my son Glenn Greenwald’s new book No Place to Hide. I’m glad bulk surveillance is getting wider press coverage and hope it can be reined in. If the NSA surveillance budget were cut by half, just think what we could do to speed our switch to renewable energy and make US buildings more energy efficient with that additional money! The Patriort Act has NOT made the US safer. More people hate us now than ever before. So let’s put our efforts into positive changes. More renewable energy, less spying. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. Do it TODAY! Take a small first step to reducing carbon pollution and minimizing climate change. Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Cut the NSA Budget
Thursday 22 May 2014
Letter # 385
Dear President Obama,
The Balkans are flooding.
They got 3 months of rain in 3 days. They are sandbagging the regional power plant hoping to keep electricity flowing. 2100 miles of roads have been damaged, homes, bridges, rail lines, schools, hospitals. “It will take years and billions of dollars to rebuild.” When are we going to wake up to the devastating effects of climate change? Let’s get out in front of this problem. Let’s keep the damage to a MINIMUM. . Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline TODAY! Eastern Europe had huge floods just a few years ago.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/16/world/europe/16danube.html
Pensacola flooded last month. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/01/us/severe-flooding-in-south-and-midwest-as-storm-system-tapers-off.html
You need to get on the climate change problem immediately!! How many more disasters will it take before we wake up? It looks like the Danube watershed can expect horrific flooding every few years now. The sooner we understand how serious climate change is for the planet, the better our chances. So stop stalling and make the right long term choice. Make it NOW! Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Balkans Flooding is a Wake Up Call!
Thursday 22 May 2014
Letter # 386 (2nd letter today)
Dear President Obama,
Not enough art lately. So here’s a salute to Richard Diebenkorn. This one is at the National Gallery, so you can go see it. Diebenkorn’s birthday is 22 April, but that was Earth Day, hard to compete with. So I send you this card a month later. What I really admire in Diebenkorn is his sense of balance and his ability to integrate the large and the small. Your eye always moves pleasingly around one of his paintings. He balances colors and shapes and sizes and you can always tell which way is up in a Diebenkorn – unlike some abstract art.
Your decisions as President are often a balancing act. I suggest that the black rectangle at the bottom of this painting is small but important to the balance the harmony of the whole. So is your decision to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline! Please stop it today. It is an important action in your Presidency – which will be lessened if you fail to act! Art can remind us that small important acts make the difference between greatness and mediocrity. Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Richard Diebenkorn Fan
Friday 23 May 2014
Letter # 387
Dear President Obama,
In an article yesterday about US efforts to help hunt for the 260 kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls, was the careful statement that the 80 troops sent to Chad are not ground troops. “They are mostly Air Force crew members, maintenance specialists and security officers for unarmed Predator surveillance drones.”
Wow. Since when has a drone needed its own security officer? Is this job-title inflation? Have drone handlers become security officers? Or are the people flying them the air force crew members? And the security officers are there for what? To redact the photos? To control the message? Meanwhile climate change is upon us. That is the message that cannot be redacted or controlled. We can continue to ignore it for a while – but at our peril! Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline to show you are serious about curbing carbon emissions. Do it today. And try asking the military to use clear job titles – more people would trust them if they did. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Have Drone Handlers become Security Officers?
Sunday 25 May 2014
Letter # 388
Dear President Obama,
I read recently about Abduweli Ayup who tried to start a Uigher-language kindergarten in Urumchi because he thinks local people should learn both Chinese and Uigher. He started blogging about the Uigher language and then about his bureaucratic frustrations trying to start the Urumchi school. He was arrested in August 2013 and has not been heard of since.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/12/world/asia/a-devotion-to-language-proves-risky.html
Had he not studied in the US for 2 years and acquired a few US friends, I would never have heard of him.
Urumchi, a city of 3 million people, is more than 75% Han chinese because of 60 years of goverment resettlement programs, but it is also the scene of bombings and increasing ethnic tension.
The Chinese respond by deploying more riot police and arresting mild linguists like Mr. Ayup as terrorists!
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/26/world/asia/suspects-in-china-market-attack-are-identified.html
Languages are windows into culture, not terrorist vehicles. If we all spoke 3 or more languages, maybe there would be more harmony in the world and we could work together to limit the damages of climate change. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. Stop it so we can have a world where all peoples and all languages can flourish.
Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Honoring Abduweli Ayup
Sunday 25 May 2014
Letter # 389 (2nd letter today)
Dear President Obama,
I write to you today about a young Egyptian scientist, Abdullah Assem, 17 years old, who is seeking political asylum in the US after attending the Intel Science Fair in Los Angeles. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/us/egyptian-17-seeks-asylum-after-traveling-to-intel-science-fair.html
Egyptian police arrested him for creating an anti-government rebel group, charges he denies. Please welcome this bright young man. Egypt’s loss is our gain. The world needs more bright young engineers to help us with the mounting problems caused by our denial of climate change! Let’s hope we stop using fossil fuels very soon. But even then we will need all the ingenuity of legions of bright engineers to help the world deal with decades of climate instability.
New immigrants, new ideas, the US needs to step up to its role as a forward-thinker. Big changes are coming. We need to get out in front of the climate change problem. Please stop the Keystone XL Pipeline right now. Show your leadership and acknowledge this is a huge problem. Stopping KXL is a small step in the right direction. Do it NOW for all the bright 17 year olds on the planet.
Thank you.
Susan Ringler, Asylum for Abdullah Assem
Monday 26 May 2014
Letter # 390
Dear President Obama,
On Thursday the Thai military staged another coup. The NY Times headline said “Thwarting Populist Movement.” It did not say “Thwarting Democracy.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/23/world/asia/thailand-military-coup.html
The Thai elite cannot win an election. They are outnumbered by the rural poor and have lost every election since 2001. It matters what words we use. A “democracy” is inherently good: a system based on free and fair elections. A “populist movement” is used for things like the Occupy movement. They are smaller, dis-organized, not yet powerful enough to win seats in national elections. Calling Thailand’s democracy a populist movement is insulting and mis-leading.
I wish Thailand well in their attempts at democracy and hope they can quickly regain stability. Unfortunately the future stability of many nations will be severely tested by climate change. That is why it is SO important that we act decisively NOW to reduce our carbon emissions. A world with fewer democracies will be less able to tackle the enormity of the climate change challenges. PLEASE stop the KXL pipeline NOW. Show your moral fiber. Step up to the trust we put in you as our elected President. Thank you.
Susan J. Ringler, Love Democracy
