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I don’t ‘tweet’. I don’t do ‘Facebook’. Wild horses wouldn’t drag me into either. Frankly, I believe Twitter is one of the most obscene forms of communication ever invented. It serves very little purpose other than as an ideal medium for cyber-bullying and a platform for that more commonly virulent of low-lifes, the cyber-critic.

These are the people who spend their time homing in on other unfortunate folk who’ve run into difficulties, and then proceed to criticize their actions – as if it were any of their business.

Take the recent case of Charlotte and Eric Kaufman. This couple and their two children set sail from the US en route to the South Seas in their 36-foot sailing yacht. On board were their two daughters, three-year-old Cora, and one-year-old, Kyra.

Kyra had just recovered from salmonella, and was passed as fit to travel by a doctor. Unfortunately, she became ill again when they were nine hundred miles off the Mexican coast. To compound the situation, the yacht developed steerage problems.

The Kaufmann’s did the exact right thing in the circumstances by asking for assistance from the US Coastguard. The California Air National Guard parachuted four rescuers onto the yacht and Kyra’s condition was stabilized. Eventually a US warship was able to attend and take the sick child to a shore-based hospital.

Sadly, for the Kaufmann’s, it would appear from reports that their boat was sunk ‘by the authorities’ because it was taking on water. This was their home. As one who lived afloat for twelve years I feel deeply sorry for them. Maybe they can find another boat and continue their journey. I do hope so.

Meanwhile, the bird brains are filling the internet with their ignorant criticisms of the Kaufmann’s way of life.

It would be very sad if this deluge of opprobrium, ‘tweeted’ from every sad bastard with a Smartphone, condemning these parents for daring to take their young children on the journey of a lifetime, caused them to give up on their trip.

I’m not sure if (anti) social-media like Twitter has created this race of sad, moronic, individuals with no life of their own, whose only sick pleasure is to express their ignorance via arrogant opinions of others they’ve never met, and know nothing about. Or, whether they’ve always existed and only surfaced with the advent of digitized communication.

I fear it is the latter.

There was a time when folk were encouraged to ‘live their dream’. Now, it seems non-conformism is to be condemned.

As one who spent many happy hours sailing small boats on the open sea I can recognize the voices of those who are totally ignorant on the subject. Inevitably, they’re the ones who whine the loudest.

If you’re one of them, my only advice to you is – GET A LIFE! And leave alone others who are making more of an effort at living their’s, than you will ever achieve with yours.

^{[1] “Stranded Family With Sick Baby Defends Rescue” NBC, April 7th 2014}

I really will have to stop watching Bill Maher if he continues to insist on booking women for his panel with voices that can only be described as resembling a recently castrated parrot choking on a walnut.

I have no idea who Carrie Sheffield is, but she’s yet another clone of last week’s, and the previous week’s – except this one is brunette and indoctrinated, rather than the usual blonde (dyed) and, of course, imbued with right-wing ideology.

Apparently, Ms Sheffield (there’s a fabulous northern town in Britain which would rapidly disown her) was educated(?) – at Brigham Young University. Do Mormons actually educate their offspring? Does she really believe Joseph Smith was a prophet? If so, is anything she says worth – anything?

She then acquired a Master’s degree in “public policy”(?) from Harvard. Obviously, Daddy was very rich.

I would suggest Ms Sheffield might bear a passing facial resemblance to Morticia Adams of “Adams Family” fame, except I could not be so cruel to the wonderful, and sadly now departed, Carolyn Jones, who played the part so adroightly for many years.

To partner Ms Sheffield on the ‘right’ of his panel, Maher chose a geriatric republican ex-politician whose name escapes me. They made a perfect match.

Finally, it’s worth pointing out that while Maher’s quick-fire jokes on the sad decline of the American middle class may be well meaning, the sad fact is that those about whom they were directed are no longer in a position to pay the exorbitant fees demanded by HBO to receive their programming, thus rendering his wit worthless and redundant.

It must be noted that those who laughed the loudest were sitting on the panel. It’s likely every one of them was a millionaire, or, at least well on the way.

It was last Monday – March 31st – that the BBC ran a report quoting the US Secretary of State John Kerry:

“Unless we act dramatically and quickly, science tells us our climate and our way of life are literally in jeopardy. Denial of the science is malpractice.
“There are those who say we can’t afford to act. But waiting is truly unaffordable. The costs of inaction are catastrophic.”^[1]

Kerry was responding to the latest IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Cimate Change) report, and while CNN and other cable channels ran generally negative responses, it had to be noted that, while recent reaction by Fox News to the IPCC report has been very negative, back in February FoxNews.Com published surprisingly neutral coverage of Kerry’s speech to students and government officials, during his tour of Indonesia.^[2]

CNN, continuing its downwards trend towards becoming the favorite entertainment of morons, only managed two minutes coverage of the latest climate report, slightly less than Fox, substantially less than MSNBC and Al Jazeera.

Evening news media was equally apathetic. NBC was the only one to devote any time at all to the subject. CBS and ABC ignored it in favor of mundane matters. CBS Evening News closed on March 31st with a cute little story about migrating cranes from Nebraska’s Platte River, even roping in Jane Goodall for authenticity. It seemed designed to make us feel all was right with the world.

While acts of omission – so common with US media – are bad enough, the true termite gnawing away at the foundations of climate science must be the irresponsible and loathsome Newt Gingrich.

Gingrich demanded Kerry’s resignation for daring to suggest that climate change represented “…the biggest challenge “of our generation.”

According to CNN:

“I think it’s very troubling that our secretary of state … believes that climate change is a greater danger than a nuclear war,” Gingrich said Tuesday in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room.”^[3]

Kerry was absolutely correct. What he actually said was (thanks to FoxNews.com):

“In a sense, climate change can now be considered the world’s largest weapon of mass destruction, perhaps even, the world’s most fearsome weapon of mass destruction.”

If Gingrich truly believes nuclear war is more of a threat than climate change he’s not only suffering delusions, but his power and position make him exceedingly dangerous to the world at large. Remember, he ran for US President in the last election.

Nuclear weapons are, at least to some degree, under the control of human beings. We, the species, decide on their use. The climate is totally out of control and we lack the power to tame it. Any attempt to do so, other than by drastically altering our lifestyles, would undoubtedly prove catastrophic.

Chucking tons of iron filings in the sea; rocketing giant mirrors into space, and other equally crazy notions put forward by quack pseudo-scientists, would likely throw the climate so far out of balance as to annihilate every living creature on the planet.

Much has been made since 9/11 of the ‘enemies of the US’ and, indeed, the world. There’s no shortage of media minutes devoted to any story of potential terrorism, however vague and tenuous.

It could be argued that Gingrich and his “Flat Earth Society” friends are substantially more of a threat to the world than any terrorist. A religious fanatic may kill some of us, but if Gingrich and Co are let loose in the powerhouse, they could be the death of us all.

To again quote the US Secretary of State John Kerry (FoxNews.com):

“We should not allow a tiny minority of shoddy scientists and science and extreme ideologues to compete with scientific facts.

“Nor should we allow any room for those who think that the costs associated with doing the right thing outweigh the benefits.

“The science is unequivocal, and those who refuse to believe it are simply burying their heads in the sand. We don’t have time for a meeting anywhere of the Flat Earth Society.”

The vast majority of Americans rely solely on US news channels for their information. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of Americans are “…still unconcerned about global warming.”

The latest opinion poll (March 2014) shows that the percentage (35%) of US citizens worried about climate change hasn’t changed since 1990. Nearly two-thirds of Republicans say they worry “only a little” or “not at all” about global warming, while more than half the Democrats say they worry about it “a great deal.”^[4]

Isn’t it time the US media began delivering news, rather than propaganda? Why is it left to outside news agencies like the BBC and Al Jazeera, organizations the average American never bothers to consult?

The rest of the world is informed about climate change. Foreign news agencies consider it more important than migrating cranes. For a nation that likes to consider itself in charge of the world, the US, with its media network of public misinformation, is leading us all into catastrophe.

Given the lethargy and ignorance of most Americans towards climate change, Gingrich could possibly regain his political career in the next election, leaving Democrats like John Kerry out in the cold.

If that were to happen, nothing could save us from potential oblivion.

^{[1] “Climate inaction catastrophic – US” BBC, March 31st 2014}

^{[2] “Secretary of State Kerry lashes out at climate change skeptics” FoxNews.com, February 16th 2014}

^{[3] “Newt Gingrich to John Kerry: Resign” CNN.com, February 18th 2014}

^{[4] “Poll: Americans Still Unconcerned About Global Warming”USNews, April 4th 2014}