Change IS Coming to the GOP

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="289" caption="Sen. Graham, quietly trying to save the GOP"][/caption]

It's not the kind of change the GOP grand poobahs had hoped for, but it's definitely change.

That is to say, young conservatives are not falling in line with party talking points, specifically on global warming, says Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina in an interview with Paul Krugman at the Gray Lady:

“I have been to enough college campuses to know if you are 30 or younger this climate issue is not a debate. It’s a value. These young people grew up with recycling and a sensitivity to the environment — and the world will be better off for it. They are not brainwashed. ... From a Republican point of view, we should buy into it and embrace it and not belittle them. You can have a genuine debate about the science of climate change, but when you say that those who believe it are buying a hoax and are wacky people you are putting at risk your party’s future with younger people.”

I've seen this coming for a while. Republicans sticking to their tired neocon talking points are driving away intelligent people — and worst of all true conservatives.

Global warming is just one example, but you could easily lump in here: health care reform, same-sex marriage and, probably, abortion. These are all losing issues for GOP candidates as time marches on and they stay firmly put in the past.

Luxembourg-Sized Ice Block Breaks Away From Antarctica

Because these unbelievable ice fractures are happening more and more regularly, the news of theses fissures is getting low-priority placement.

Even when it's nothing shy of incredible to think a chunk of ice the size of a European country is now floating in the oceans, it will probably take a Texas-sized hunk of snow to grab headlines nowadays.

That said, I'm pointing out this article for two reasons:

This particular block of frozen water, scientists suggest, might change the circulation patterns in oceans, which could ultimately really screw with weather. That's flipping crazy.

The other piece I took from this article was the chutzpah of the AFP. Read this sentence:

Both natural cycles and manmade climate change contribute to the collapse ice shelves and glaciers.

Kudos to the AFP for the word choice. Among researchers and scientists studying glaciers, there is no debate about manmade climate change. So that's how you write it.

The rest of the media needs to grow a pair and stop kowtowing to the politics of it all.

It's nice to see the AFP writing in a way that doesn't allow climate change to get hijacked by Swift Vote-style aspersions and pumped-up rhetoric.

Earthly Uncooling

More startling climate change news that nobody is reporting.

The TG Daily reports:

Antarctica’s glaciers may be retreating at a much faster pace than previously believed, a new study released by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) indicates. One major ice shelf has completely disappeared and another shelf three times the size of Rhode Island has broken off since 1986, the maps reveal.

If I know wing nuts, I'm sure they'd attack the credibility of the U.S. Geological Survey, a research-based arm of the Department of Interior, a.k.a. puppets controlled by the Penguin Agenda.

Then they'll gas about the weather. "It was 30 degrees in Nashville today and it's April. I'm cold. Where's the global warming?!? Wah wah wah."

Weather patterns and climate change are  not the same.

I'm not an alarmist, but this news is disturbing. I think reporters really picked up on global warming back when Al won his Oscar. But now. Eh.

We've got Wall Street's melt down to cover. No interest.

Besides, there's no real villain with global warming and no real chance for a coordinated and meaningful response in the foreseeable future, so it's easier this way.

As a side note, it was also easier for the good people of Germany to go along with the Nazi movement or do nothing to stop it.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Map shows their research."][/caption]