From reader Melanie:

Al Gore spoke at the Omega Institute conference in Manhattan last night, and the speech wasn’t recorded, nor was the press allowed to be present. I think it’s okay for you to post my comments about it

The theme of the conference was “fearlessness,” so Al spoke quite a bit about fear. He said that politicians and corporations are ignoring the long-term effects of their actions more now than ever, and he believes the root of this is fear that became more intense as a result of the threat of nuclear war. Then, it was, of course, intensified after 9/11. There was a poll taken recently of CEO’s and CFO’s where they were asked if they would invest in something that was sure to bring high returns, but not in 90 days, and it might mean they wouldn’t meet their quarterly projections in the next quarter. Virtually all of them said they wouldn’t invest, and Al said this is “functionally insane.”

He evoked the Chinese character that stands for both “crisis” and “opportunity,” saying that the danger part of crisis induces fear which can lead to denial to deception to despair and finally, paralysis. The opportunity part can inspire hope and lead to people working together toward grace. He said it’s a struggle to perceive clearly and fully in the present, and fear is an obstruction in our ability to see how to walk through the danger and seize the opportunity. He said that today’s politicians often can’t distinguish between illusory fears and legitimate fears.

Then, he spoke about brain studies which show that the portion of the brain where fear resides actually does communicate with the reasoning portion of the brain. The problem is they believe this communication is asymmetrical. While the fear portion (the survival-based portion of the brain) communicates endlessly with the reasoning portion, the reasoning portion only communicates slightly with the fear portion. So, he said it’s very difficult for us to respond to fear with reason – especially when we’re afraid of something perceived rather than actual, like a snake or a gun pointed at us right in the moment. He said he also believes that when we view something on a television or computer screen, the information is generally not mediated by the reasoning centers of the brain. Therefore, it becomes impossible for the majority of people to distinguish between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.

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While driving through mostly rural eastern Connecticut yesterday, Sue and I noticed more than a few signs on phone poles, “Foreclosure? We buy houses” followed by a phone number.

There must be some serious hurting going on there… and it’s not an area that had a big run up in prices either.

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From Maxed Out, an excellent book about the current “era of predatory lenders,” in the conclusion, wondering why the exploitation has gotten so bad.

Perhaps…there have always been only two classes of people: owners and renters.

Perhaps the wealthy are simply those who own, regardless of the amount, and the poor are those who borrow their capitol and goods, no matter how impressive those goods may look parked in front of a big house that is also, in fact, rented.

To which a Marxist would say, take the final step. Put the pieces together. Yes, that’s precisely what’s happening. The ruling class is fattening itself by extracting huge amounts of money from the working class. That’s how they stay rich. Vicious and usurious lending schemes backed with a wink and a nod from Congress are simply one more example how the ruling class exploits the rest of us.

When the problems are systemic, then the solution is to change the system.

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Via Treehugger, who has lots more detailed information on the advantages and disadvantages of the various types of stoves.

So, there’s no question about it, oil and gas furnances burn much cleaner than any type of wood or pellet stove, no matter how advanced they may be. Plus, as Treehugger points out, pellet stoves are complicated and require electricity to run - which makes them useless in a power outage.

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